LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



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!|ap ©iwi$t %t.l£ , 

Shelf 



UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



HAND-BOOK 



OF 



Christian Evidence; 



on 



FACTS AGAINST INFIDELITY. 



BY 



VURENCE W. SCOTT. 



REVISED EDITION. 



ST. LOUIS: 
JOHN BURNS, Publis 
1884.' 




2>* 



%* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year of our Lord 1880, by 
LAURENCE W. SCOTT, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



REVISED EDITION. 

Entered according to Act of Congress, A. D. 18S4, by 

LAURENCE W. SCOTT, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



The Library 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



PKEFACE TO REVISED EDITION. 




•HEN the first edition of this work appeared, 
the author expected it to be thoroughly criti- 
cised ; which would enable him the better to 
revise and improve it; but, to his astonish- 
ment, it never met with an adverse criticism. All 
press notices and reviews (hardly excepting the one to 
which we publish a rejoinder) were highly complimen- 
tary. Nevertheless, the author has thought best to 
spend several years in revising the work, with the view 
of making all possible improvements. Having accom- 
plished this purpose in a manner highly satisfactory, 
he now comes before the public with an electrotype 
edition. 

Laurence W. Scott. 
717 Olive Street, St. Louis, Mo. 
January 1st, A. D. 1884. 



(Ill) 



PKEFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 



~F any skeptic honestly disbelieves the Bible and 
the religion therein revealed, it must be for the 

- want of evidence — no one has a right to reject 
<4p it from any other consideration — therefore, I pro- 
pound to all such three questions : — 

1. What evidence would it require to convince 
you? 

2. What evidence has been adduced? 

3. In case the religion of Jesus were true, what 
evidence could be adduced in its favor that has not been 
adduced? 

Before any book should be received as a satisfactory 
refutation of " Christianity," it should, 

First, define clearly the proof necessary to establish 
the claims of such an institution. 

Second, set forth fully, clearly and concisely all the 
proof that has ever been adduced in its favor. 

Third, show conclusively that the proof adduced is 
either insufficient or irrelevant. 

Such a task has never been attempted, much less 
accomplished. 

W 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Increase of Infidelity — Object of this Work Three- 
Fold : To Aid Preachers, Strengthen Believers, 
and Convince Skeptics 



PAGES 



9-19 



PART FIRST. 

DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 
CHAPTER I. 

Approximate Proof of the Divine Origin of the Bible 

in General — Its Three-Fold Analogy to Nature 

— Their Simplicity and Profundity — Their Unity 

and Harmony— Their Adaptation to Man . . 23-40 

[Note. — "The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah" — 30] 

CHAPTER II. 

Conclusive Proof of the Divine Origin of the Old 
Testament — Fulfilled Prophecies — Seven Speci- 
fications — Nineveh — Ammon and Moab — Philis- 
tines AND THEIR ClTIES — BABYLON — DISPERSION OF 

the Jews — Desolation of the Holy Land — Preser- 
vation and Perpetuity of the Jews .... 41-99 

CHAPTER m. 



Conclusive Proof of the Divine Origin of the New 
Testament — Fulfilled Prophecees — Three Speci- 
fications — Popery — Spiritualism — Avowed Infi- 
delity — The Three Great Enemies of Christ's 

Kingdom 

(vii) 



100-157 



Viii CONTENTS. 

PART SECOND. 

DIVINE ORIGIN OP THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGES. 

Credibility of the Gospels and Acts oe the Apostles 
— Proved According to Well Established Prin- 
ciples of Evidence — Testimony of Friends — Tes- 
timony of Enemies — Circumstantial Evidence . 161-236 

CHAPTER n. 
The Resurrection of Jesus Proved .... 237-254 

CHAPTER III. 

Circumstances Corroborating Christ's Claims — Jesus 
the summum bonum of the world — the centre- 
Stance Around which Circumstances Revolve. 
Events Before his Coming Point Forward to Him ; 
While Events Since, Point Back to Him . . . 255-289 

CONCLUSION. 
God — Miracles— Objections . . . . • . 290-296 

APPENDIX. 

A. 
The Controverted Passage of Josephus . . . 299-302 

B. 
Martyrdom of Apostles 802-316 

C. 
Infidel Review and Reply 315-341 



INTRODUCTION. 




HE increase of Infidelity, and the fact that it is 
^ becoming popularized, would afford sufficient 
F apology, if any were needed, for offering to the 

^ public, at this time, a work on the evidences of 
our holy religion. That skepticism, in its various forms 
and phases, has been on the increase for the past de- 
cade, is undeniable. Even during a longer period, its 
prevalence has been attracting the attention of "watch- 
men upon the walls of Zion," both in the Old World 
and in the New. 

As early as 1863, an English writer, Mr. Froude, 
said: "At this moment a general doubt is coming up, 
like a thunder storm against the wind, and blackening 
the sky." 

In 1865, Prof. Hurst wrote: "There was a time 
when rationalism was a theme of interest to the Pro- 
testant church of Germany alone. But that day is 
now past. * * * It has assumed an importance 
which should not be overlooked by * * * Ameri- 
can thinkers." 

As early 1865, Prof. Fisher told us: " The compara- 
tive strength of the Infidel party in our times, is under- 
rated by not a few, even of Christian teachers. * * * 
CM 



X INTRODUCTION. 

They are not awake to the subtler form which skepti- 
cism has assumed. They fail to see that * * * 
it is diffused like an atmosphere. They are not aware 
how widely the seeds of unbelief are scattered through 
books and journals, which find a hospitable reception 
even in Christian families." 

About the same time, MacPherson, of Scotland, 
wrote: "This contest respecting the foundation of 
religious belief, is not confined, as it used generally to 
be, within certain circles of speculative men. The 
press, now so powerful in its influence, has involved rich 
and poor, learned and unlearned, in this great con- 
flict." 

" Thus from day to day," as De Pressense says, " a 
form of skepticism is being developed, which * * * 
is in the very air we breathe ; it finds its way into the 
lightest publication ; the novel and the journal vie 
with each other in its diffusion ; short review articles, 
skilled in giving grace and piquancy to erudition, fur- 
nish it with arguments, which appear weighty. * * * 
Such a condition of things is critical, and calls for 
grave and special consideration. If those who are 
convinced of the divinity of Christianity, slumber on 
in false and fatal security, they must be prepared to 
pay dearly for their slothfulness, and the church and 
mankind — which have need of each other — will pay 
for it dearly, also. The voice of skepticism will alone 
be heard, and the sweeping assertions of unbelief will 
pass for axioms." 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

We might give examples of similar declarations 
made in 1866, such as the statement of Mr. Liddon, 
that " no one who hears what is going on in daily con- 
versation, and who is moderately conversant with the 
tone of some of the leading organs of public opinion, 
can doubt the existence of a widespread unsettlement 
of religious belief.' ' 

In 1867, President Milligan wrote: " It is painful 
to see the popular indifference that is everywhere mani- 
fested for the word of God." Although the goodness 
of his nature, and the broad charity that filled his 
heart, and shown so brightly in his life, caused him to 
dissent from the view that the Holy Scriptures were 
losing their influence on mankind, he sadly penned the 
following: "But, nevertheless, their influence is very 
little in comparison with what it ought to be.'' 

We find the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, C. J. 
Ellicott, speaking, in 1870, of " the current forms of 
unbelief among the educated classes ; ' ' of * * the skepti- 
cism and Unbelief, which for the last few years, have 
been distinctly traceable in all clases ; " and, again, 
* ' of those in the lower grades of society who are ex- 
posed to the thickening dangers arising from that 
organized diffusion of infidel principles, which is one 
of the saddest and most monitory signs of the present 
time." 

Later yet, the Bishop of Winchester says: " Doubt 
is everywhere. Skeptical suggestions are wrapped up 
in narrative ; they bristle in * * * essays ; they 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

color our physical philosophy ; they mingle themselves 
with our commonplace theology itself." 

In 1871, President Hinsdale stated " the supreme 
religious question of the age," to be this: "What 
shall we do, then, with Jesus, which is called 
Christ?" He then adds: "How deeply Christen- 
dom is stirred by this query, is apparent even to the 
superficial observer. The press of the Old World 
teems with publications seeking to answer it ; likewise 
the press of the New ; while in both worlds the lecture- 
rooms and pulpit resound with noisy debate. The 
voices are not harmonious ; they do not unite in a song 
of praise to our Lord Jesus Christ ; so far from it, they 
represent every shade of belief and unbelief; they 
are too discordant to blend." 

In 1872, in a speech delivered at Liverpool College, 
Prime Minister Gladstone said: — 

" On an occasion like this, I should not have desired, my young 
friends, to dwell in a marked manner on the trials you will have to 
encounter. But the incidents of the time are no common incidents ; 
and there is one among them so obtrusive, that youth cannot long 
enjoy its natural privilege of unacquaintance with the mischief, but at 
the same time so formidable that youth really requires to be fore- 
warned agaiust the danger. I refer to the extraordinary and boast- 
ful manifestation in this age of ours, and especially in the year 
which is about to close, of the extremest forms of unbelief." 

About the same time, Mr. Fowle, a minister in the 
Church of England, wrote : — 

"We cannot foresee the exact influence of scientific discovery 
upon the religious faith of the future. * * * But it is clear that 
once more men will be brought face to face with the deepest ques- 
tions of religious belief, and it is melancholy indeed to notice the 
absolute ignorance of popular religionism, and its popular leaders, 



INTRODUCTION. XI 11 

as to the true nature of the approaching crisis. That Mr. Darwin's 
last book [The Descent of Mari] should surprise the religious world 
in the midst of a hot fight about articles and rubrics, disestablish- 
ment and vestment, is sadly ominous of the result of the battle." 

And, with a true view of the situation, the Duke of 
Somerset declares that "the differences of Christian 
sects lose their significance in comparison with far 
deeper questions which are attracting the notice of 
educated society/ * 

In 1873, Augustus Blauvelt wrote: — 

" Since 1865, all the more thoughtful and scholarly forms of 
trans-atlantic unbelief have been crossing over to our shores through a 
thousand different channels, — books, periodicals, living advocates, 
the constant intercourse of nations, and the like, — and by the ar- 
rival of almost every ship and steamer. 

11 If American Christians — if American Christian lawyers and 
statesmen and men of letters, and other secular leaders of this pub- 
lic mind, as well as the American Christian clergy — do not wish 
ten years from now to be doing precisely what all such classes of 
Christians are this instant doing in Europe — that is, do not wish 
to be running hither and thither, wringing their hands and their 
hearts together at the fearful extent of the already blackened 
desolation, and almost wildly endeavoring to save the Christian 
faith and system from a still further wreck and ruin; then some- 
thing must be done by all these friends of Christ among us; and 
something must be done by them intelligently, promptly and effi- 
ciently." 

During all this while many ominous facts have come 
within the purview of every one's vision. Notably 
prominent among these, was the hearty reception given 
the Infidel scientist 'Tyndall, when he visited this 
country. Apropos to this, the works of Darwin, Hux- 
ley, Spencer, and other anti-christian scientific leaders of 
trans-atlantic thought, have been, for several years 
past, scattered broadcast among the masses of reading 
and thinking Americans. Not only so, but Prof. Fiske, 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

of Harvard, a disciple of Spencer and Darwin, has, for 
months together, had the columns of one of the principal 
New York dailies placed at his disposal, through which 
to disseminate the seeds of Atheism, under the guise 
of philosophy. 

Nor is this all, but avowed Infidel works have been 
profusely scattered through Europe and America, 

" Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks of Vallombrosa." 

Furthermore, the most insidious literature is circu- 
lated, and every available occasion made use of for the 
purpose of foisting upon an unsuspecting public, the 
most seductive and poisonous Infidelity. An infidel 
tract was once handed me, headed "Are You a Chris- 
tian?" At the close, it had the phrase, " American 
Tract Society," in very large letters ; but just above, 
it had the words " not by," in very small letters. I 
sometimes see, in the homes of Christians, a large 
gilded and finely ornamented volume, entitled "Crea- 
tor and Cosmos" which costs $5.00. This attractive 
volume, although purporting to be a religious work, 
is leavened with the rankest kind of Infidelity. In 
1877, Pres. Braden, who has made Skepticism in 
its various forms and phases, a subject of observation 
and reflection, wrote as follows: — 

"Lectures and publications on scientific topics are continually 
assaulting every religious sentiment; scientific associations and 
their anniversaries are used, on account of the eclat that the occa- 
sion will give the speaker, to flaunt in the face of the religious 
world the baldest Infidelity, and to scout the fundamental prin- 
ciples of religion." — Problem of Problems, page 93. 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

Then, be it remembered, the Infidels are organizing 
themselves into clubs wherever a group of them can be 
assembled together, and in some places, they meet 
regularly for the promotion of their obnoxious cause. 
And Infidel periodicals are published, and scattered 
broadcast over the land, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf. A computa- 
tion of the infidel, semi-infidel, and spiritualistic papers 
in the United States and the British Dominions, would 
startle those who have heretofore given the subject no 
consideration, vltis hardly too much to say "their 
name is legion ! " 

If any further evidence is needed to show that Infi- 
delity is becoming popularized, it is found in the fact 
that speakers are paid a good salary to travel from 
city to city, and lecture against the Bible and religion. 
What means the applause which greets such men as 
Ingersoll, wherever they deal out their blasphemous 
denunciations against God and the Bible ? Does it not 
show that Infidelity is permeating the masses? There 
is, in too many places, a latent skepticism that only 
requires the bold utterances of some reckless adven- 
turer, who neither regards God nor man, to bring it 
into full activity. 

The very erroneous idea prevails, in some sections, 
among the uninformed, that Christians cannot cope with 
Infidels ; that religion " is a pretty good thing,' ' but will 
not stand the crucible of investigation . They look upon 
Christianity about as they look upon homeopathy — 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

think if it does no good, it can do no great harm ; 
but, that it possesses no virtue, no efficacious qualities. 
For this very fallacious view of the subject, ministers 
are to some extent responsible, because they have 
given too little attention to the subject ; because they 
have too often evaded discussion ; and because they have 
neglected to make the truth stand out in bold relief 
that Christianity is a religion of fact; that it rests 
upon incontrovertible facts — facts attested by the very 
best and most reliable historic testimony in existence. 
Our religious teachers should show a bold front, and 
evince that they are ready to defend the truth " against 
all comers and goers." They should plant themselves 
squarely upon the Rock of Ages, and defiantly exclaim, 
in the language of James Fitz-James : — 

" Come one, come all ! this rock shall fly 
From its firm base as soon as I ! " 

In view of the foregoing considerations, I have never 
refused to meet Infidels in the arena of public discus- 
sion, when called upon to do so. And in view of those 
considerations, I now come before the public with a 
work on " Christian Evidence." I fully indorse the 
sentiment of Walter Scott : — 

" So long as man requires to be enlightened on the proposition of 
Christianity, so long will it be useful and necessary to handle its 
evidence and reason upon it. It has been said, that he who cannot 
reason upon religion is a fool, he who will not reason upon it is a 
bigot, and he who dare not reason is a coward. Let us, then, be 
neither fools, bigots, nor cowards. Books on evidence are always 
in order." — Great Demonstration , p. 18. 



INTRODUCTION. XV11 

Many contributions to the various divisions of apol- 
ogetics have been written, by such men as Lardner, 
Paley, Watson, Newton, Keith, Alexander, Baxter, 
Bolton, Walker, Doddridge, Newcomb, Gaussen, Gro- 
tius, Buchanan, Butler, Blount, Leslie, Jenyns, West, 
Clark, Lyttleton, Greenleaf, Home, Chalmers, Rog- 
ers, Sharpe, Simpson, Taylor, Mcllvane, McCosh, 
Campbell, Scott, Milligan, Wickens, Schaff, Haldane, 
Channing, Christlieb, De Pressense, Smith, Challen, 
Hinsdale, Braden and Dungan.* But notwithstanding 
the world has been favored with those, and other able 
and invaluable works, bearing directly and indirectly 
upon the subject of Christian evidence, my experience 
in debating with Infidels has impressed the conviction 
that another and somewhat different work was needed — 
a work which might appropriately be called, "A 
Hand-book of Christian Evidence." Such a book I 
aim to furnish in the following pages. 

When a minister of Christ is called upon to defend 
his religion, either in the arena or from the pulpit, he 
finds that he has to rummage through all the libraries 
accessible, in order to secure such facts and authorities 
as may be necessary for such an important task. Even 
then, some of the most needed works are inaccessible, 



* Since our first edition was issued the " Encyclopedia on the Evidences," 
has appeared ; an extensive compilation by J. W. Monser, published by John 
Burns, St. Louis. A good work of reference for ministers and others. Also, 
the " Problem of Human Life," by A. W. Hall, published by Hall & Co., New 
York. A very weighty production, in which the author crushes the evolution 
theory, as the heel of a giant might crush an egg-shell. 

(2) 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

and he is pressed for time to select and arrange such 
facts and statements as may be furnished by the works 
at hand. The first object of this book, therefore, is 
to furnish aid to ministers of the gospel ; to present 
them, in a cheap and convenient form, with many of 
the most important facts and documents relating to the 
great controversy which is now agitating the leading 
minds of both the Old World and the New. I have 
also found, in debates with Infidels, that it is easy to 
wound them with their own weapons ; I, therefore, 
quote many admissions of Infidels which may effec- 
tively be turned against them. I am persuaded that a 
perusal of the following pages will show that an Infidel 
dare not admit anything, nor affirm anything; that the 
best that he can offer is — nothing! 

The second object of this work is to inform the 
general reader, and strengthen the faith of the Chris- 
tian. The apostle Peter says, "be ready always to 
give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason 
of the hope that is in you." And the time has come 
when it is necessary, not only to believe, but to believe 
intelligently and upon evidence ; not only to accept 
the gospel, but also to tell why you accept it. The 
apostle Paul requires every elder to be able, not only 
to exhort, but to convince the gainsayers; and if the 
masses of Christians do not possess the ability to silence 
all the cavils of Infidels, they should, at least, be able 
to present such reasons as will satisfy the honest 
doubter that our religion is all that it claims to be. 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

All believers are therefore requested to read these 
pages with great care and diligence, and with a proper 
realization of the responsibility that rests upon them. 

The last, but by no means the least, object of the 
production now before you, is to reason with skeptics 
and Infidels, so that those who are open to conviction 
may be convinced, and others may be left without ex- 
cuse. I therefore request all doubters and unbelievers 
to read with fairness and candor, and with the serious- 
ness that the importance of the subject demands. 
Remember that you hazard nothing by believing, but 
everything by disbelieving ; for if the religion of the 
Bible proves false you lose nothing by accepting it, 
but if it proves true, you lose everything by rejecting 
it. 

Entering a field that has often been traversed, I set 
up no claims to entire originality ; on the other hand, 
I am at no pains to follow in the wake of others. 
Consequently, I appropriate for the good of the cause, 
such fruits and flowers as lie in my pathway, as well as 
the herbs of my own planting, trusting that God may 
bless alike the planting of Paul and the watering of 
Apollos, causing the increase to abound to the honor 
and glory of His great name, and the best interests of 
humanity. 



I1W5SES&- 



PART I. 
THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 



Mgyom 



21 




" The heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth his 
handywork. 

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end 
of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. 

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a 
strong man to run a race. 

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the 
ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the 
Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the command- 
ment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the 
Lord are true and righteous altogether. 

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter 
also than honey and the honeycomb. 

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there 
is great reward."— David. 

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well 
that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day 
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private 
interpretation. 

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy 
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."— Peter. 

22 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 23 



CHAPTER I. 




Approximate Proof that the Bible in General is of 
Divine Origin. 

.T the Bible in general is of divine origin, may- 
be proved approximately by its analogy to 
nature. The book is similar to nature in three 

^ grand particulars — 

I. It is like nature in its combined simplicity and 
abstruseness. 

When the student of nature first begins his investi- 
gations, the whole truth seems to lie right upon the 
surface; but the more he learns, the more he finds 
that there is to learn, so that it requires profound 
thought and close application, even to approximate 
toward understanding some of the simplest things in 
the great store-house of nature. The study of the at- 
mosphere affords a striking illustration of this thought. 
The first thing we have use for when we come into 
this world is air. We breathe it every day that we 
live, and it is the last thing we use before leaving the 
world. We ought to understand it, if we understand 
anything in the universe ; and yet the human family 
breathed it for centuries before they knew what it was, 
or had any just conception of it. Thales, a great phi- 



24 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

losopher, who flourished in the year 640 before Christ, 
promulgated the theory that air and everything else 
was made of water, and that all life resided in it. 
About a century afterward, Anaximenes said Thales 
was wrong, that everything was composed of air, and 
that it was the essence of life. Diogenes, a few years 
later, thought the air t<* be an intelligent spirit, who 
was generally in a kind and pleasant humor, but would 
occasionally become angry, and produce storms and 
hurricanes. 348 B. C, Aristotle divided all substances 
into four elements — earth, air, fire and water. But 
little more was known about the subject till A. D., 
1100, when Olshausen, a Saracen, discovered that air 
possessed weight, and that it merely encircled our 
globe, instead of extending through all space, as had 
formerly been supposed. In 1630, Galileo investi- 
gated the water pump, and found that water would not 
rise in a tube over thirty-three feet, when the air was 
drawn off. Torricello applied the same principle to 
mercury, which led to the construction of barometers, 
and laid the foundation for further discoveries. It 
was found that air weighed about fifteen pounds to the 
square inch, and that its weight varied with the weather. 
In 1650, Otto Von Gruericke invented the air pump. 
Boyle, the next investigator, endeavored to ascertain 
the chemical constituents of the atmosphere. He con- 
cluded that there were different kinds of air. Hales 
pursued the investigation still further; but Black was 
the first to use the plural for the word air, and to use 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 25 

a balance for weighing airs. A. D., 1772, Kutherford 
discovered nitrogen. In 1774, Priestly discovered 
oxygen. Lavoisier, a Frenchman, generalized the 
observations of others, and invented the caliometer. 
He classified the elements of the air, as oxygen, nitro- 
gen and carbon. Liebig has since discovered that the 
atmosphere possesses a small portion of ammonia. 
Dr. Playfair, who has examined the subject with abil- 
ity and precision, says: " Fresh observations are still 
being made which tend to show how little is yet known 
about the air.' ' I have just taken this subject as an 
example of the many illustrations that might be given 
to show what attention and profound research is re- 
quired in order to have even a moderate idea of the 
simplest things in the natural world. It has required 
the study of philosophers for centuries to learn what 
is now known about as simple and commonplace ele- 
ment as air, and they confess now that they do not 
thoroughly understand it. 

The same principle will apply to the study of nature 
as a whole, and in all its various departments. The 
farmer who turns and reads the furrows of the field, as 
the leaves of a book, seems to understand all that is 
necessary to be known about nature. He knows when 
to sow and when to plant, and how to make nature 
contribute to all his wants. Even the child can under- 
stand whatever is most pleasing and beneficial in 
nature, but the greatest philosopher has never yet 
sounded its depths ; and when he has to give up this 



26 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

life, after long years of arduous toil, and patient in- 
vestigation, he confesses that he has just begun to 
learn. Sir Isaac Newton, when upon his death-bed, 
was complimented upon the wonderful discoveries 
which he had made in science. He replied : "I have 
been but as a child, playing on the seashore ; now find- 
ing some pebble rather more polished, and now some 
shell rather more agreeably variegated than another, 
while the immense ocean of truth extended itself un- 
explored before me." 

So it is in regard to the Bible. When we open the 
volume which believers regard as precious, everything 
appears to be plain, and easy to be understood. The 
whole truth seems at first glance to lie right upon the 
surface of its pages. But the more we learn about it, 
the more are we impressed that there is still much to 
be learned, so that we are ever learning, and never able 
to come to a full and complete knowledge of the truth. 
We can never exhaust all its treasures ! Every golden 
boulder that we find but discovers a new "lead," 
which, if followed, will lead to the excavation of 
pearls and diamonds, richer than any that abound in 
the great store-house of nature. Some things in the 
Bible are so plain that " he who runs may read." 
Some things are adapted to the comprehension of a 
child. This is particularly true with reference to mat- 
ters of duty. Where is the intellect too weak to learn 
the great items of duty from the Bible. Isaiah, look- 
ing down through coming ages with prophetic eye, saw 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 27 

the ransomed of the Lord returning and coming to 
Zion, and he declared the way to be so plain that "the 
wayfaring men, though fools, should not err therein."* 
And when we turn to the actual requirements of the 
gospel, such as faith, repentance, obedience, and the 
addition of virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, 
love, etc., we find them to be very plain and simple. f 
Even a general outline of the Bible, upon all subjects, 
historical and otherwise, is very plain and intelligible 
to any reader ; but there is beyond all this a depth of 
profundity and abstruseness that the greatest genius 
cannot fathom. 

Now, nature and the Bible being alike simple and 
yet uniting with this simplicity, a depth that renders 
them incomprehensible, both must have originated 
from the same divine mind. 

LI. The Bible is like nature in its harmonious unity. 

That nature is a unit is shown : — 

1st. By chemistry, from which we learn that there 
are about sixty-four original elements or different kinds 
of matter, called atoms ; and those combined in vari- 
ous proportions make all the varieties of material sub- 
stances, which we see around us, wood, hay, iron, 
stone, steel, brass, copper, silver, zinc, cloth, cotton, 
silk, and so on ad infinitum. Now this shows that the 



• Isaiah, xxxv : 8. 

f It is true believers sometimes dispute, even about matters of duty; 
but the difference is not so much as to what is taught, but as to whether 
something may be practised that is not taught, or something omitted that is 
taught 



28 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

creator of one substance is alike the creator of every 
other substance in the material universe. 

2d. The unity of nature is shown by natural history, 
from which we learn that vegetation is closely con- 
nected with and based upon the mineral ; and that as 
the mineral is the basis and support of the vegetable 
kingdom, the vegetable is the basis and support of the 
animal, and the animal, again, of the mental ; show- 
ing that the maker of minerals is also the maker of 
vegetables, animals, and souls. 

3d. Astronomy proves and illustrates the unity of 
nature. All the planets of our solar system revolve 
around the sun ; and the solar system, with ten thou- 
sand other systems revolve around other suns, and so 
on throughout the vast immensity of illimitable space, 
all the planets in the universe revolving around one 
central sun, showing that the same Almighty power 
that formed our world also made the sun and moon, 
and all the suns and moons, and stars that light up the 
boundless universe. 

Thus, whether we take a microscopic view of the 
least particles of matter, or a broad comprehensive 
view of the whole vast machinery of the universe ; or 
if we could, as the poet says, 

" Trace by steps, each planet's heavenly way, 
Or fill at once the realms of space, a thing of eyes that all survey! " 

We find unity and harmony pervading the whole. 

The Bible, like nature, is also a unit, and shows evi- 
dent marks that it, like the universe, is the production 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 29 

of one infinite mind. This may be shown in many 
ways: 

1st. By the train of prophecies contained in the 
Bible. 

There is a remarkable agreement and oneness of 
sentiment about the prophecies. No prophet ever 
contradicts another prophet. When one declares an 
event he is left uncontradicted by all the others. 
They either repeat the same thing or maintain silence. 
Does one prophet predict the destruction of a city, 
such as Babylon, or Nineveh, other prophets chime in 
predicting the same thing and giving additional partic- 
ulars; and none can be found among all the prophets, 
or sons of prophets, to predict the perpetuity of such 
city. 

Now, this line of argument shows, in a remarkable 
degree, the unity of Bible writings. Had not those 
prophets been guided by one mind, so far from utter- 
ing the same prediction, one would have contradicted 
the other ; and when one foretold the destruction of a 
city, another was just as liable to predict its perpetuity 
as any other way. Again, take the long chain of 
prophecies concerning the advent and work of the 
Messiah. It was said to Abraham : " In thy seed shall 
all the nations of the earth be blessed. ,, * Jacob said: 
" The sceptre (staff) shall not depart from Judah, nor 
a law-giver from between his feet, till Shiloh come, 
and unto him shall the gathering together of the peo- 

• Gen. xxli:l& 



30 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

pie be."* Balaam said: " There shall come a star 
out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel. "f 
Moses told the Jews that God would raise up a prophet 
like unto himself. J Isaiah said he should be called 
Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of 
the Everlasting Age.|| It was said that he should be 
born "in Bethlehem." § Of the seed of Jesse.** Daniel 
called him " Messiah the Prince," and told the very 
time of his advent. ft Other predictions foretold the 
coming of some great one to whom the people of 
Israel should seek, and in whom the Gentiles should 



* Gen. xlix:10* 

* The authorized translation of this passage Is incorrect, and the common 
interpretation erroneous. The kingly sceptre was not then wielded hy Judah, 
nor for a considerable time afterward. The first king was of the tribe of 
Benjamin, and the Maccabees were of Levi. The modern Jewish interpreta- 
tion—" No tribe shall depart from Judah till you come to Shiloh" —is equally 
fallacious. According to Gesenius the word translated sceptre ( D 3 VI shebet) 
literally means a rod or staff. Jacob was speaking about something with 
which his sons were familiar. The Patriarch of each family carried a stomas 
the emblem of his authority and an ensign of his tribe —as nations now have 
a flag. At the death of Jacob, the family of each son was constituted a sepa- 
rate tribe. All these had formerly been represented by one staff in the hand 
of Jacob —now they were to be represented by twelve. The staff in the hand 
of Judah was not to depart at his death, giving place to as many tribes as he 
had sons — but they were to continue as one family, one tribe. In other 
words, the Patriarch meant that the tribe of Judah should be perpetuated, as 
such, till the Messiah came. This was fulfilled. The existence and identity 
of the tribe of Judah continued to the destruction of Jerusalem — hence, the 
Staff departed soon after Messiah came. Jacob's language implied that some 
of the tribes should lose their identity. And it was so. The staff of Joseph 
soon gave place to the two staffs, one of Ephraim and one of Mannasseh. 
And many of the other tribes lost their identity before the coming of Christ. 
As to the law-giver, Judah furnished none till Christ " went forth from be- 
tween his feet." The only law-giver prior to Christ (Moses) was furnished 
by Levi. 

t Num. xxiv:17. X Dent, xviii : 15. || Isaiah, xix: 6. § Micah, v:2. 
** Isaiah, xi: 1-10. tt I>an. ix: 24. 



DIVINE OKIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 31 

trust. All these prophecies found their fulfilment in 
the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who broke down the 
middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles 
and established one religion adapted to both. This 
shows that there was one mind directing the prophets 
when they wrote, and illustrates the statement of John 
that " the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of proph- 
ecy."* 

2d. The institution of sacrifice shows the unity of the 
Bible. 

Year after year, for centuries, bleeding lambs and 
smoking victims were offered upon both Jewish and 
Gentile altars. But for what purpose? There was 
not a Jewish priest nor Gentile sage that could answer 
the question, until Christ was offered as the true 
sacrifice — the lamb of God, without spot or blemish — 
then all was made plain, the mystery was revealed. 
Christ is the sun of the moral system, just as the central 
sun in the universe is the centre of the physical system ; 
and everything in revelation, all the prophets, apostles, 
priests, and sacrifices revolve, as it were, around him. 
Sacrifices, and all institutions before his coming, point 
forward to him. The Lord's supper and all similar 
institutions since his coming, point back to him. So 
Christ is all in all, the centre of the whole system, 
preserving its unity and giving meaning to all its 
parts. 

* Rev. xix : 10. 



32 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

3d. The unity of the Bible is shown by the agreement 
of the various writers thereof 

The Bible is composed of sixty-six different books, 
written by about thirty different authors, in different 
ages of the world, and under a great variety of circum- 
stances, and yet it reads right along like one history. 
The book of Job was written before Moses was found 
in the bulrushes ; the Pentateuch was written by Moses 
in the wilderness, when arts and sciences were in their 
infancy; David composed some of his most beautiful 
odes while excited and distracted by scenes of war or 
the embarrassing influences of a regal court ; Ezekiel 
and Daniel wrote their prophecies in captivity ; Paul 
dictated some of his epistles while a Koman prisoner, 
under a military guard, in the imperial city; John 
wrote the book of Revelation, while banished to the 
lonely isle of Patmos ; and yet there is a perfect 
agreement throughout the volume, as though one great 
mind had composed the whole. There is a wonderful 
agreement in the moral sentiments throughout the 
Bible. Not one moral maxim of Moses and his Old 
Testament successors was ever contradicted by Jesus 
or the writers of the New Testament. 

This unity that extends throughout nature and the 
Bible, proves that they both have the same authorship. 
But there are apparent discrepancies in both nature 
and the Bible ; and this but affords another parallel. 
There is not a real contradiction in either. I will ad- 
duce one example from each. I first specify an ap- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 33 

parent contradiction in nature. Take a pebble in one 
hand and a cork in the other, go to the pool, let the 
pebble loose at the top of the water, and the cork at 
the bottom ; one falls down through the water to the 
bottom, while the other falls up through the water to 
the top. There appears to be a palpable contradiction ; 
but there is no real contradiction. When we under- 
stand the principle of specific gravity all is rendered 
plain and simple, and we are lead to admire the unity 
and the harmony of Nature's laws. The specific 
gravity of the water being less than that of the pebble 
and greater than that of the cork, the former sinks 
while the latter rises in that element. 

All the apparent discrepancies in the Bible are just as 
easily reconciled as the one in nature cited, and like 
it, afford evidence of unity and harmony. I give one 
example, Jer. xxxiv:3; Ezk. xii:13. 

Jeremiah told Zedekiah, king of Judah, that he 
should be taken and delivered into the hands of the 
king of Babylon, "and," continues he, "thine eyes 
shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he 
shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt 
go to Babylon.' ' " Thou shalt not die by the sword." 
Ezekiel represents the Lord as saying of Zedekiah : 
" I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chal- 
deans, yet shall he not see it, though he shall die 
there." This has the appearance of contradiction. 
How could he die in Babylon if he was not to see it? 
How could he see the king of Babylon and yet not see 
3 



34 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Babylon ? How can both predictions about his dying 
be true? But when we turn to the history of the 
case, all is very plain and harmonious. He saw the 
king of Babylon with his own eyes, but not in Babylon, 
but in Riblah, where he was first taken after his 
capture on the plains of Jericho ; there his eyes were 
put out ; then he was taken to Babylon blind ; so 
he did not see it, though he died there; he did not die 
by the sword, however, but a natural death in prison. 
See 2 Kings, xxv:6, 7 ; Jer. Hi: 11. Any discrepancy 
which may appear in the whole Bible is just as easy of 
solution as this one when candidly considered, and in 
the light of all the facts. Another grand particular, in 
which nature and the Bible are analogous, proving 
that they both emanated from the same divine source. 

III. The Bible is similar to nature in its adap- 
tation to the wants and capacities of man. 

I wish to call attention to three particulars in which 
the Bible parallels nature in its adaption to man : — 

1st. Both nature and the Bible are adapted to all 
men. Just to the extent that men live in unison with 
nature, and conform to the laws thereof, just to that 
extent is their happiness augmented and their pleasure 
increased — showing adaptation. 

This adaptation does not just apply to some men, 
but to all men; just as the light is adapted to the eyes 
of all. There are no two eyes in the world exactly 
alike in every particular, and yet the light is adapted 
to all — all eyes in their natural state. Now, suppose 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 35 

the light had been made ten times brighter than it is, it 
would not have been adapted to the human eye, but 
would have blinded it as the sun dazzles the eye of the 
owl at noon-day. Again, if it had been made with 
less brilliancy, it would not have afforded sufficient 
light to answer man's purposes. Just so with the air 
that we breathe. If there was less oxygen and more 
carbon in the atmosphere, it would be ruinous to the 
lungs. While some vegetables and a few animals 
thrive better in air thus compounded, it would be death 
to man to undertake to live in it. If, on the other 
hand, there had been more oxygen and less carbon in 
the air, it would have been too exhilerating, causing 
man to be intoxicated all the while; and not only so, 
but oxygen being the active principle in the air, if 
there were more of it, it would soon burn out the 
machinery, and man's lungs would be gone. It is very 
evident that when God made the light and the air, he 
made them with reference to man, and for his benefit. 
And the point to which I call particular attention is the 
fact that the atmosphere is adapted to all men. Not 
only is it adapted to one pair of lungs, but it is 
adapted, perfectly adapted, to all the lungs that 
breathe. "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all 
things."* 

When we turn to the pages of the Bible we find the 
same beautiful adaptation. It is adapted to all men. 
It is adapted to the old and the young ; adapted to the 

• Acts, xvii : 25. 



36 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

wise and the unwise; to the educated and the illiter- 
ate. The old man and the little boy, the middle aged 
maiden and the little girl, can all be interested in the 
same chapter of this wonderful book. If the Bible 
were so plain and simple in all its parts that every one 
could master it, it would not be deep enough for the. 
philosopher. If, on the other hand, it were so pro 
found that it would require a sage to understand any- 
thing about it, it could not, then, interest the young 
and the ignorant. But, combining as it does, simplic- 
ity with profundity, it is adapted to all; so that the 
philosopher and the common man both find it interest- 
ing to them. Where is there another volume that will 
thus interest all classes of mankind without regard to 
age or education? If man could exhaust the great 
storehouse of knowledge contained in the Bible, he 
could then lay it aside as a primer and be no longer in- 
terested in it; but, as it is, the more he reads it the 
more he finds to interest him. When we contemplate 
the wisdom of God exhibited in the two great volumes, 
Nature and Eevelation, well might we exclaim with 
Paul: " Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the 
wisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable 
are his judgments and his ways past finding out ! " 

2d. The study of nature and the Bible benefits and 
ennobles mankind. 

Every man that ever studied geology, chemistry, as- 
tronomy, or any of the natural sciences, will testify that 
he was made better and happier, as well as wiser, by 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 37 

doing so. Contrast the nations who study the sciences 
and those that do not. Such studies — 

•• Soften the rude, 
And calm the boisterous mind." 

Besides, the study of nature's laws will enable a man 
to so conform to them that he will be greatly benefited 
thereby. 

The same great principle applies to the Bible. The 
study of its teachings makes men nobler, and it is very 
evident that just to the extent that its grand moral 
principles are practised, to that exent are men made 
better and happier. Contrast the nations that have 
not the Bible with those where it is permitted to exert 
some influence on the minds of men. Those nations 
that have the Bible are civilized and enlightened; 
those nations that have not the Bible are making little 
or no progress in civilization, while some of them are 
bowing down to stocks and stones, or worshipping 
reptiles that crawl upon the ground. Or, contrast 
Protestant countries, with an open Bible, with those 
Catholic countries where it is withheld from the people. 
Does not the different stages of civilization in those 
countries speak in thunder tones in favor of the Bible? 

3d. There is in both Nature and the Bible a heart- 
power — the power of love. 

A book to be adapted to mankind must be pre- 
eminently addressed to the intellect; but not wholly 
so. There must be something to touch the heart. 
Man being possessed of affection, nature, to be adapted 



38 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

to him, must adduce something to call forth the ex- 
ercise of this faculty. Accordingly, we find it in the 
love of the parent for the child, in the love of the 
child for the parent, in the love between husbands and 
wives, sisters and brothers, and in the mutual love and 
sympathy of men for each other. Also, in the study 
of nature we can see the goodness of God to man dis- 
played in his works, and thus love for the Creator is 
enkindled. 

But it is in the Bible where this principle is pre- 
eminently manifested. " God so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten Son ! ' ' If the Bible were 
addressed entirely and exclusively to man's intellect, 
it would not be adapted to his nature. There would 
be nothing to enkindle the emotions of his soul. We 
have already shown the Religion of the Bible to be 
adapted to all men, and we have now arrived at a 
standpoint whence we can see that it is adapted to the 
whole of the man — intellect, will and emotional nature. 
And it is the only system that is thus adapted. If the 
Bible were banished from the world the only thing 
that could logically be substituted for it is Atheism, 
and it is cold, heartless and emotionless. It makes 
no provision whatever for the heart, furnishes no 
food for the affection — it is addressed altogether to 
the cold intellect. The tender cord of man's nature 
called the affection, must be consulted as well as his 
intellect, in providing for its wants. Not only does 
the Bible parallel everything that nature furnishes to 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE. 39 

touch the heart, but goes beyond that, and provides 
where nature fails to provide. Men realize that they 
are sinners, " their thoughts accusing or excusing/' 
Their wants are not fully met till they are provided 
with a loving, kind, affectionate Savior — one who 
comes with a happy adaptation to every sorrowing and 
sin-stricken spirit. Such a Savior we have in Jesus 
of Nazareth. The Bible meets this want by providing 
a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of 
our infirmities, and was in all points tempted like as 
we are, yet without sin. The love of God to man, 
made known in the volume of Revelation, is calculated 
to enkindle love in the human breast, causing the 
student of Scripture to exclaim : — 

11 Oh, for this love let rocks and hills 
Their lasting silence break, 
And all harmonious human tongues 
A Savior's praises speak!" 

Thus the Bible is seen to be adapted to man in pro- 
viding for the heart as well as for the head ; filling the 
affection as well as the intellect. 

Now, of the things concerning which we have spoken 
this is the sum. We have found the Bible to be like 
nature in its simplicity and profoundness ; in its unity 
and harmony; and in its adaptation to man. How 
is this wonderful similarity to be accounted for ? There 
is nothing like it an}' where else. These is nothing like 
it in the philosophies of ancient times ; there is nothing 
like it in the scientific theories of modern times ; nothing 



40 SAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

like it in the speculations of men any where I There 
is only one way to account for the wonderful analogy, 
and that is by concluding that the author of one is also 
the author of the other ; and as God is admitted to be 
the author of nature, he is also the author of the Bible. 




THE OLD TESTAMENT OF DIVINE ORIGIN. • 41 

CHAPTER II. 



Conclusive and Irrefutable Proof that the Old Testa- 
ment is of Divine Origin. 



. .HE argument adduced in the previous chapter 
I was modestly put forward as approximate 




proof of the divine origin of the Bible. I set 
^ rJ up no higher claims in its behalf, wishing to 
place everything on a sure footing ; though some parts 
of it may be deserving of a higher rank. I do not 
claim that it should possess sufficient strength to 
thoroughly convince the Infidel, nolens volens, of the 
inspiration of the Bible; but I do claim that it so 
approximates toward that end that it should arrest the 
attention of every unbeliever and cause him to seriously 
and candidly consider the claims upon which the Bible 
rests. I shall, in this and the following chapter, pre- 
sent evidence that I consider absolutely conclusive and 
overwhelming. The scope of this evidence may be 
briefly stated in two words: "Fulfilled Prophecy." 
There is a chain of fulfilled prophecies running through 
the entire Old Testament — for I confine the argument 
of this chapter to that portion of the book — which 
cannot be accounted for upon any hypothesis other 
than that those writers were aided by Divine Intelli- 
gence. Certainly if a series of writers, during a 
period covering hundreds of years, write predictions 
concerning the fate of cities, kingdoms, and races of 



42 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

people, and those predictions are exactly and literally 
fulfilled, it is but justly due them that they be permit- 
ted to tell how they derived the wonderful information 
and from what source. I maintain that the Bible 
writers, from Moses to Malachi, present us just such 
phenomena. They foretold a wonderful variety, of 
events, hundreds, and in some instances, thousands, of 
years before the event transpired. Those predictions 
were fulfilled to the letter, the event taking place just 
as the writer said it should take place. In some in- 
stances the prediction refers to the present condition 
of people and things, so that the fulfillment is con- 
tinually verified from day to day before the eyes of 
the world. Out of the many examples that might be 
given I select seven, and defy the Infidel world to over- 
throw one of them. Without further preliminaries I 
make seven specifications, which I consider conclusive 
and irresistible : — 



FIRST SPECIFICATION. 

PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE CITY OF NINEVEH. 

I quote from the book of Nahum, the Elkoshite, 
headed by the prophet, " The burden of Nineveh." 
Of the Lord he says : — 

" With an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place 
thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. 

What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end; 
affliction shall not rise up the second time. 

For while they be f olden together as thorns, and while they are 
drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully 
dry." — Nahum i: 8-10. 

"The gates of the river shall be opened, and the palace shall be 
dissolved. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT OF DIVINE ORIGIN. 43 

And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, 
and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering 
upon their breasts. 

But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water; yet they shall flee 
away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back. 

Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is 
none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture. 

She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and 
the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces 
of them all gather blackness." — Nahum ii: 6-10. 

"Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the 
prey departeth not. 

The noise of whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, 
and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. 

The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glitter- 
ing spear; and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of 
carcasses ; and there is none end of their corpses ; they stumble upon 
their corpses: 

Because of the multitude of whoredoms of the well-favored 
harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her 
whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. 

Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will 
discover thy skiits upon ihy face, and I will shew the nations thy 
nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. 

And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, 
and will set thee as a gazing stock. 

And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall 
flee from thee, and say: Nineveh is laid waste; who will bemoan 
her? whence.shall I seek comforters for thee." — Nahum iii:\ -7. 

Josephus testifies that Nahum flourished in the reign 
of Jotham, king of Judah, and that this prophecy was 
written over a century before the destruction of Nine- 
veh took place. That proud capital of Assyria was 
then in her glory, extensive in size and magnificent in 
beauty. The Bible says that it was a very great city 
of " three days' journey," and Diodorus Siculus, one 
of the ablest historians of ancient times, states that 
its circuit embraced four hundred and eighty furlongs, 
which makes over sixty miles, and the three days' 
journey would be twenty miles a day. Diodorus fur- 



44 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

ther states* that it had walls a hundred feet high and 
so thick that three chariots could go abreast upon them, 
and that there were fifteen hundred towers at proper 
distances in the wall, of two hundred feet in height. It 
occupied three or four times the space occupied by 
London or Paris. The population, though not known 
definitely, was immense. It was the capital of a strong 
and powerful kingdom. There was no probability that 
it could be taken or destroyed. Yet, with all the 
probabilities against* him, Nahum predicted that it 
should be overthrown and utterly destroyed by water 
and fire. In addition to the quotations already made, 
this prophet wrote : — 

" The fire shall 'devour thy bars. Draw thee water for the siege, 
fortify thy strongholds ; go into clay and tread the mortar, make 
strong the brick-kiln. There shall the fire devour thee !" — Nahum 
Hi: 13-15. 

What did other prophets have to say about it? 
Isaiah and Ezekiel both joined Nahum in predicting 
that Jehovah would pour out destruction upon Assyria ; 
and Zephaniah joins him in foretelling the utter over- 
throw of Nineveh. He says: — 

"And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy 
Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilder- 
ness. 

And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, and the beasts of the 
nations : both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper 
lintels of it : their voice shall sing in the windows ; desolation shall 
be in the thresholds : for he shall uncover the cedar work. 

This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in hei 
heart, I am, and there is none beside me : how is she become a deso^ 
lation, a place for beasts to lie down in ! every one that passeth by 
her shall hiss, and wag his hand." — Zeph. ii: 13-15. 

* Diod. Sic. Bk. 2, c. 3. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT OF DIVINE ORIGIN. 45 

This affords a striking illustration of the principle 
of unity alluded to in the first chapter. Nahum had 
foretold the destruction of this great city ; years had 
passed, and there was no sign of fulfillment; it was 
still a mighty bulwark, the glory of Assyria, and the 
pride of its mighty monarch. 

"All called Assyria lord ; and year by year, 
To giant Nineveh new warriors sent 
To guard her monarch's state and grace his throne." * 

And yet, for all that, Zephaniah ventures to stake 
his reputation as a prophet, and joins Nahum in pre- 
dicting its destruction. Now, if you will compare the 
pages of history with the prophecies, you will see that 
they are fulfilled item by item. 

The prophet said : ' ' While they are drunken as drunk- 
ards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." 

According to Diodorus, when the allied forces of 
Media and Babylon first advanced on Nineveh, the king 
of Assyria marched against them and defeated them in 
three successive battles. The Assyrians were so 
elated with these victories that they abandoned them- 
selves to revelry and feasting. The invaders, " being 
informed by some deserters of the negligence and 
drunkenness in the enemy's camp, assaulted them unex- 
pectedly by night, and falling orderly on them disor- 
derly, and prepared on them unprepared, easily made 
themselves masters of the camp, slew many of the 
soldiers, and drove the rest into the city."f 

* Artherstone'8 "Fall of Nineveh." 
t Diod. Sic, Book 2, ch. 26. 



46 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

" With an overrunning flood will he make an utter end of the place 
thereof. The gates of the river shall be opened." " The fire shall de- 
vour the bars." " There shall the fire devour thee." 

In these passages an inundation is clearly indicated ; 

and, as unlikely as it might appear, it is here set forth 

that the city should be destroyed by the combined 

agency of water and fire. Now, turn to Diodorus, and 

you read the fulfillment. He says : — 

" There was an old tradition that Nineveh could not be taken 
unless the river first became an enemy to the city. In the third 
year of the siege, the river, being swollen by continual rains, 
overflowed part of the city, and threw down twenty stadia of 
the wall. The king, then imagining that the oracle was accom- 
plished, and that the river was now manifestly become an 
enemy to the city, cast aside all hope of safety; and to avoid 
falling into the hands of the enemy, he built a large funeral pile 
in the palace, and having collected his gold and silver and royal 
vestments, together with all his household, placed himself with 
them in an apartment built in the midst of the pile, and burned 
them, himself, and the palace together. When the besiegers heard 
of the death of the king, they entered in by the breach which the 
waters had made, and took the city." — Diod. Sic, Book 2, chaps. 
26, 27. 

Query. — Was the "old tradition" mentioned de- 
rived from this prophecy? 

" Take ye the spoil of silver, and the spoil of gold, for there is none 
end of the store," etc. 

Here it is predicted that the besiegers will find much 
spoil when they take the city : accordingly Diodorus 
says that Arbaces, one of the conquerors, carried many 
talents* of gold and silver to Ecbatana, the royal city 
of the Medes. — Book 2, chap. 28. 

Nineveh was to be entirely destroyed and perpetually 
desolate. Nahum says: " He will make an utter end; 
affliction shall not rise up the second time." And 
Zephaniah says he " will make Nineveh a desolation, 

* A talent of silver is worth about $1,700; a talent of gold about $27,000. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT OF DIVINE ORIGIN. 47 

and dry like a wilderness; " "a place for beasts to lie 
down in." 

Soon after the destruction of Nineveh, the city of 
Babylon was enlarged and beautified by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and Nineveh rapidly mouldered into ruins. The 
most ancient Greek writers that mention it speak of it 
as a place that had long been desolate. Lucian, who 
wrote in the second century after Christ, speaks of it 
as follows: "Nineveh is so utterly destroyed that 
no vestige of it remains, nor is it easy to tell the 
spot where it formerly stood." In the sixth chapter 
of the " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," by 
Edward Gibbon, we read that " in the year 637 the 
Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians in a great 
action fought on the convenient battle-field offered 
by the vacant site of Nineveh." Haitho, the Arme- 
nian, wrote in 1300: "This city is totally ruined." 
John Cartwright, who visited the ruins in the six- 
teenth century, speaks of it as " nothing else than 
a sepulchre of herself." In 1657 Thevenot wrote: 
" This city stood on the east side of the river, where 
are to be seen some of its ruins of great extent even 
to this day." A writer named Taveriner says : " The 
ancient city of Nineveh is now a heap of rubbish only, 
for a league along the river full of vaults and caverns." 
Another writer named Nieuburh, says: "As one comes 
to Mosul, in this direction, he will pass through Nine- 
veh ; I was not aware that I was passing over such a 
remarkable spot till I was near the river. * * * 
While I was at Mosul the walls of Nineveh were pointed 



48 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

out to me. These I had not before observed in my 
tour thither, but took them for a part of the hill." 

Even the very ruins of Nineveh may be said to be 
ruined. Mr. Rich, who visited the place in 1820, says : 
" It is not easy to say precisely what are ruins and 
what are not ; what is art converted by the lapse of 
ages into the semblance of nature, and what is nature 
broken by the hand of time." — J . G. Rich's "Nar- 
rative of a Journey to the Site of Nineveh." 

I could cite numerous other writers to the same pur- 
port, but it is unnecessary to multiply testimonies. 
It is very evident, from the facts before us, that the 
prophecies have been fulfilled. They have been so 
completely fulfilled that even the very site of the once 
magnificent city is somewhat involved in doubt. The 
ruins on the Tigris, supposed to be the place, is gen- 
erally conceded to be correct ; though it is doubted by 
some authorities. I conclude in the language of the 
poet: — 

"Fallen is the mighty city! fallen! fallen! 
Fallen is great Nineveh — the city of old — 
The mighty city, qneen of all the earth ! 
The day of her exulting is gone by! 
Her thron* is in the dust! her sceptre broke I 
Her walls are gone ! her palaces dissolved ! 
The desert is around her, and within. — 
Like shadows has the mighty passed away! 
And scarce remains a solitary stone 
To say, ' Here stood imperial Nineveh ! • '•' 

— [Atherstone's " Fall of Nineveh." 



SECOND SPECIFICATION. 

PROPHECIES CONCERNING AMMON AND MOAB. 

I place the prophecies relating to those two coun- 
tries under the same head, because they were both in 



THE OLD TESTAMENT OF DESTINE ORIGIN. 



49 



habited by kindred nations, being descended from 
Moab andBen-ammi, the sons of Lot. Gen. xix : 37, 
38. Also, from the further consideration that the pre- 
dictions concerning the two are blended together : — 



11 Son of man, set thy face against 
the Ammonites, and prophesy against 
them; 

And say unto the Ammonites, Hear 
the word of the Lord God ; Thus saith 
the Lord God: Because thou saidst, 
Aha, against my sanctuary, when it 
was profaned ; and against the land of 
Israel, when it was desolate; and 
against the house of Judah, when 
they went into captivity. 

Behold, therefore, I will deliver 
thee to the men of the east for a pos- 
session, and they shall set their 
palaces in thee, and make their 
dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy 
fruit and they shall drink thy milk. 

And I will make Kabbah a stable for 
camels, and the Ammonites a couch- 
ing-place for flocks; and ye shall 
know that I am the Lord. 

For thus saith the Lord God: Be- 
cause thou has clapped thine hands, 
and stamped with the feet, and re- 
joiced in heart with all thy 
despite against the land of Israel ; 

Behold, therefore, I will stretch 
out mine hand upon thee, and will 
deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen 
and cut thee off from the people, and 
I will cause thee to perish out of the 
countries; I will destroy thee; and 
thou shalt know that I am the Lord. 

Thus saith the Lord God ; Because 
that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, 
the house of Judah is like unto all 
the heathen; 

Therefore, behold, I will open the 
side of Moab from the cities, from his 
cities which are on his frontiers, the 
glory of the country, Beth-jeshi-moth, 
Baal-meon and Kiriathaim, 

Unto the men of the east with the 
Ammonites, and will give them in 
possession, that the Ammonites may 
not be remembered among the na- 
tions. 

And I will execute judgments upon 
Moab: and thev shall know that I am 
the Lord." — Kzk. xxv: 1-11. 



"I have heard the reproach of 
Moab, and the revilings of the chil- 
dren of Ammon, whereby they have 
reproached my people, and magnified 
themselves against their border. 

Therefore as I live, saith the Lord 
of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely 
Moab shall be as Sodom, and the 
children of Ammon as Gomorrah, 
even the breeding of nettles, and 
saltpits, and a perpetual desolation : 
the residue of my people shall spoil 
them, and the remnant of my people 
shall possess them. 

This shall they have for their pride, 
because they have reproached and 
magnified themselves against the 
people of the Lord of hosts."— Zeph. 
ii:8-10. 



50 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

See, also, the 48th and 49th chapters of Jeremiah, 
and Amos i : 13, 14 ; ii : 1. 

AMMON. 

Here are three plain predictions with reference to 
the Ammonites : — 

1st. That they were to perish as a nation. 

2d. That Kabbah, their capital, was to be destroyed. 

3d. That their country was to become a perpetual 
desolation. 

These have all been remarkably fulfilled. Hear the 
prophet : — 

ii I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause 
thee to perish out of the countries, and I will destroy 
thee, 91 From the united testimony of * Josephus and 
the author of the Maccabees, we learn that during the 
persecutions of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, the 
Ammonites exercised great cruelties against such of 
them as lived in their parts ; in consequence of which 
they were attacked by Judas Maccabeus, who defeated 
them in several battles, and took the city of Jazer, 
with the adjoining towns. At that time their power 
was completely broken ; and they rapidly declined till 
their nationality became utterly extinct. The learned 
John Kitto says that while the few inhabitants now in 
that land preserve the names which the Ammonites 
gave to their towns, they have not even a tradition 
concerning that people, and do not know whose land 

* Jos. Ant., book 12, chap. 8. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 51 

they occupy; and that the memory of the Ammonites 
is so utterly perished that it would not be known that 
the nation ever existed were it not for history. How 
true spoke the prophet, when he said they " should 
not be remembered among the nations.' ' 

" I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the 
Ammonites* a couching -place for flocks." Rabbah, 
also called Rabbath-Ammon, was the capital of the 
Ammonites before the Israelites entered the land of 
Canaan. It is very evident that this prophecy was 
written when this city was in its prime, and long be- 
fore it became a heap of ruins, for it continued its 
existence till the time of the Romans, who called it 
Philadelphia; but the ruins are called Ammon to this 
day. All travellers who visit the place attest that it is 
just in the condition that the prophet predicted, & stable 
for camels and a resort for flocks. After passing the 
first night among the ruins, Mr. Buckingham makes 
the following note in his journal : " During the night 
I was almost entirely prevented from sleeping by the 
bleating of the flocks," etc. Further on, he speaks of 
the " goats, which the Arab keepers drive in here occa- 
sionally for shelter during the night." In " Letters 
on Egypt, Edom and the Holy Land," in 1836, the 
author, Lord Lindsay, remarks: "The dreariness of 
its present aspect is quite indescribable — it looks like 

* "By the word 'Ammonites ' we must, of course, understand the chief 
city or cities of the Ammonites, for it is not expressive of desolation that the 
flocks should pasture anywhere in the open country. The context and other 
passages show that that is the sense." — Kitto. 



52 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

the abode of death ; the valley stinks with dead camels ; 
one of them was rotting in the stream." Further on, 
he says: " Vultures were garbaging on a camel as we 
slowly rode back through the glen, and reascending the 
akiba by which we entered it. Ammon is now quite 
deserted, except by the Bedouins, who water their 
flocks at its little river. We met sheep and goats by 
thousands, and camels by hundreds, coming down to 
drink, all in beautiful condition." Stephen B. Wickens 
very truely says : * ' When the prophets of Israel pro- 
nounced the doom of Kabbah, more than a thousand 
years had given uninterrupted experience of its 
stability ; for a thousand years has it now lain deso- 
late ; yet still it is not so utterly extinct but that the 
Bedouin, who alone frequents the spot, can fold his 
cattle in its temples and palaces, fulfilling the divine 
prediction that the proud Kabbah of the Ammonites 
should be * a stable for camels and a couching-place for 
flocks.' " 

"Ammon shall be a perpetual desolation." Mr. 
George Robinson, in " Travels in Palestine and Syria, 
in the year 1830," wrote: " To the south of the river 
Zerka commences the country anciently inhabited by 
the Ammonites ; a country in those days as remarkable 
for its rich productions, as for the number and strength 
of the cities which covered its surface. It is now one 
vast desert, having long since ceased to be inhabited 
by man in a civilized state." Mr. Buckingham says: 
"Throughout its whole extent were seen ruined towns 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 53 

in every direction, both before, behind, and on each 
side of us; generally seated on small eminences, all at 
a short distance from each other ; and all we had yet 
seen bearing evident marks of former opulence and 
greatness." J. L. Burckhardt, in " Travels in Syria 
and the Holy Land, in 1810-11, " writes that a large 
portion of the site of Rabbath is "covered with the 
ruins of private buildings — but nothing of them re- 
mains, except the foundations and some of the door- 
posts.*' 

MOAB. 

In addition to the prophecies cited, in which both 
Ammon and Moab are alluded to, Isaiah, in the 16th 
chapter, predicts the overflow and desolation of Moab, 
making five prophets who agreed in foretelling the 
destruction of that wicked and idolatrous nation, and 
they do not conflict in any particular with reference to 
the facts. Jeremiah is fuller in his description than 
any of the others, from whom I make the following 
extracts : — 

"Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; 
Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and 
taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. 

There shall be no more praise of Moab : in Heshbon they have de- 
vised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. 
Also thou shalt be cut down, O, Madmen ; the sword shall pursue 
thee. 

A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great de- 
struction. 

Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 

For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up : for 
in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of de- 
struction. 



54 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. 

For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, 
thou shalt also be taken ; and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity 
with his priests and his princes together. 

And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall es- 
cape : the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, 
as the Lord hath spoken. 

Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away ; for the 
cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein." — 
Jer. xlviii: 1-9. 

" Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell 
ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled. 

And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and 
upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath. 

And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim. 

And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth- 
meon. 

And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the 
land of Moab, far or near. 

The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken, saith the 
Lord."— Jer. xlviii: 20-25. 

"And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from 
the land of Moab ; and I have caused wine to fail from the wine 
presses; none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no 
shouting. 

From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, 
have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an 
heifer of three years old; for the waters also of Mmrim shall be 
desolate. 

Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that 
offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his 
gods." — Jer. xlviii: 33-35. 

I wish to call attention to two points in connection 
with this prediction , that are particularly striking : — 

1. The prophets go into details, mentioning several 
of the doomed cities by name. 

2. They even venture to say that every city shall be 
destroyed — that no city shall escape. 

It is remarkable how both those points have been 
fulfilled, Mr. Burckhardt says: "The ruins of 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 55 

Elealeh, Heshbon, Meon, Medeba, Dibon and Aver, 
all situated on the north side of the Arnon, still sub- 
sist to illustrate the history of the children of Israel." 
In this short extract occur the names of several cities, 
particularly mentioned by the prophets. Burckhardt 
mentions the names of forty ruined sites that he passed 
through, in peregrinating the country. Seetzen, who 
undertook a dangerous tour from Damascus to the 
Dead Sea, in 1806, found a multitude of ruins, still 
bearing the old names. The capital, Rabbat-Moab, 
called by the Greeks, Aereopolis, remained till the time 
of Jerome, when it was destroyed by an earthquake. 

" The spoiler shall come upon every city, no city 
shall escape." Kitto, Seetzen, Burckhardt, Irby, Rob- 
inson, and all who travel through the land of ancient 
Moab, attest the fact that every city has been spoiled, 
and is now in ruins. " Her cities are left desolate with- 
out any to dwell therein" One writer remarks, that 
"Karrak, a frontier town on the southern border, is 
the only one now inhabited by man ; but its walls have 
mostly fallen down, and Karrak can now justly lay 
claim to nothing more than the name of village.' ' 
How wonderful are the works of the Lord ! The 
prophets said there should not be an inhabited city in 
Moab, and there is none ! 

In view of the wonderful fulfillment of the predic- 
tions relative to Ammon and Moab, will not the skeptic 
exclaim : Surely the Lord is in this book I and I knew 
it not I 



56 



HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 



THIED SPECIFICATION. 

PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE PHILISTINES AND THEIR 

CITIES. 



"Thus saith the Lord God: Because 
the Philistines have dealt by revenge, 
and have taken vengeance with a de- 
spiteful heart, to destroy it for the 
old hatred : 

Therefore thus saith the Lord 
God: Behold, I will stretch out mine 
hand upon the Philistines, and I will 
cut off the Cherethims, and destroy 
the remnant of the sea coast." — 
Ezekielxxv: 15-16. 

" For Gaza shall be forsaken, and 
Ashkelon a desolation: they shall 
drive out Ashaod at the noon day, 
and Ekron shall be rooted up. 

Woe unto the inhabitants of the 
sea coast, the nation of the Chere- 
thites ; the word of the Lord is against 
you; O, Canaan, the land of the Phil- 
istines, I will even destroy thee, and 
there shall be no inhabitant. 

And the sea coast shall be dwell- 
ings and cottages for shepherds, and 
folds for flocks."— Zephaniah ii: 
4-6. 



"Thus saith the Lord; For three 
transgressions of Gaza, and for four, 
I will not turn away the punishment 
thereof; because they carried away 
captive the whole captivity, to de- 
liver them up to Edom: 

But I will send a fire on the wall 
of Gaza, which shall devour the pal- 
aces thereof. 

And I will cut off the inhabitant 
from Ashdod,and him that holdeth 
the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will 
turn mine hand against Ekron: and 
the remnant of the Philistines shall 
perish, saith the Lord God." — Amos 
i: 6-8. 

"Baldness is come upon Gaza; 
Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant 
of their valley."— Jer. xlvii: 5. 

"Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; 
Gaza also shall see it, and be very sor- 
rowful, and Ekron; for her expecta- 
tion, shall be ashamed; and the king 
shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon 
shall not be inhabited."— Zech. IX : 5. 



Here are five prophets concurring in the predic- 
tion that the Philistines should perish, their country 
become desolate and their cities ruins. How wonder- 
ful that they should thus coincide in foretelling the same 
events? And still more remarkable, that the events 
should transpire according to the predictions. They 
said, " the remnant of the Philistines should perish ; " 
and there is not one left to boast of their ancient vic- 
tories over the Hebrews, or call in question the won- 
derful exploits of Samson. They were lasting enemies 
of the Jews. The last conflict between the two nations 
took place in the time of the Maccabees, which re. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 57 

suited in the complete overthrow and subjugation of 
the Philistines, their extermination being so complete, 
that they are not once mentioned in the New Testa- 
ment. 

That the country is in the desolate condition fore- 
told, is attested by all travellers, without regard to 
creed or opinion — Infidels and Christians giving the 
same account. The description of the celebrated Infi- 
del writer, Volney, is almost a complete counterpart of 
the prophecy. He says : — 

" In the plain between Kamlah and Gaza, we meet with a number 
of villages, badly built, of dried mud, and which, like the inhabi- 
tants, exhibit every mark of poverty and wretchedness. The 
houses, on a nearer view, are only so many huts, sometimes de- 
tached, and sometimes ranged in the form of cells, around a court- 
yard, enclosed by a mud wall. In winter the people and their cattle 
may be said to live together, the part of the dwelling allotted to 
themselves being only raised two feet above that in which they 
lodge their beasts. The environs of these villages are sown, at the 
proper season, with grain and watermelons ; all the rest is a desert, 
and abandoned to the Bedouin Arabs, who feed their flocks on it. 
At every step we meet with ruins of towns, dungeons, and castles 
with fosses, and sometimes a garrison, consisting of the lieutenant 
of an Aga, and two or three Barbary soldiers, with nothing but a 
shirt and a musket; but more frequently they are inhabited by 
jackals, owls and scorpions." — Travels through Syria and Egypt in 
1783-4-5, by M. C. F. Volney. 

What says the prophet: " The sea coast shall be 
dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for 
flocks." And Yolney says, in the above extract, that 
" the people and their cattle may be said to live to- 
gether ," etc. Also, that " all the rest is a desert, 
abandoned to the Bedouin Arabs, who feed their flocks 
on it." In 1818, Dr. Robert Richardson, in " Travels 
along the Mediterranean and parts adjacent," quotes 



58 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

the prophecy, and remarks : " This is the literal truth 
at present, with respect to the Philistine coast in gen- 
eral, and Ashkelon and vicinity in particular.' ' A few 
years ago, Dr. Barclay published a large standard work 
on Jerusalem, entitled, " City of the Great King." 
On page 578, he mentions a visit to Ashdod, in which 
he uses this language : " Forcing our way through the 
thousands of goats, sheep, camels and donkeys, that 
crowded around the pool and troughs, we slacked our 
thirst with the cool water,' ' etc. 

' * The king shall perish from Gaza ." " Gaza shall be 
forsaken." " Baldness is come upon Gaza." Gaza 
was repeatedly destroyed, till left without a king. 
According to Josephus, it was destroyed the last time 
by the Jews, to avenge a massacre of their country- 
men, at Cesarea. It was finally forsaken and a new 
town of the same name built on a different spot. Dr. 
Barclay says: "As we gazed upon the naked, white 
sand hills, upon which the city seems to have been 
mainly situated, I thought in a moment of the pro- 
phetic declaration : * Baldness h?s come upon Gaza!' 
Of all her splendid palaces or 3 decorating the sur- 
rounding hills, we saw no remains whatever, larger 
than a man's hand — merely a few fragments of vari- 
ous-colored marbles." — City of the Great King , page 
576. 

"Ashkelon shall be a desolation" " Ashkelon shall 
not be inhabited." An early traveller named Joliffe, 
says it is 4 * a scene of desolation, the most complete I 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 5SJ 

ever witnessed, except at Nicapolis." Mr. Addison 
says : " The last of the inhabitants of Ashkelon was 
laid in his sandy grave many a year back. Upon this 
forlorn spot, where once was congregated a large 
population, and where once stood the proudest of the 
five satrapies of the Philistines, there is now not a 
single inhabitant. " Dr. Barclay says, " Though 
offering so many inducements for residence in its ruins 
yet there is not a single dweller within its walls — the 
gardens being altogether cultivated by the Fellahin of 
Jura, an adjacent mud village. * * * There is 
not a single inhabitant of this once mighty city, and 
the few Arab villages constructed here and there, by 
these pastoral Ishmaelites, are designed almost entirely 
as folds for the accommodation of flocks.' ' — City of 
the Great King, page 577. 

"I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod" 
Ashdod was besieged twenty-nine years by Psam- 
mitticus, King of Egypt — the longest siege recorded 
in history. The inhabitants have been cut off, till it is 
reduced to a village. Volney says, " Leaving Yabna, 
we met successively with various ruins, the most con- 
siderable of which are at Ezdoud, the ancient Azotus,* 
famous, at present for its scorpions. This town, so 
powerful under the Philistines, affords no proof of its 
ancient importance." — Ruins of Empire, chap. II. 

"Ukron shall be rooted up." John Kitto, a reliable 
and standard authority, says : "In the time of Jerome 

* A shrjnd is called Azotus in New Testament. — Acts viii ■ ±0. 



60 



HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



it was a large village, called Accaron. In the time of 
Breidenbachius, whose travels were first published in 
1486, it had declined from a village to a solitary cottage 
or hut, which still bore the ancient name. No traces 
of the name or site can now be discovered.' ' 

That these prophets should foretell the destruction 
of all those cities, is remarkable in itself; but there is 
a point in connection with it, still "more remarkable ; 
that is, the particular phraseology used with reference 
to each one. They do not simply say that those cities 
shall all be destroyed — the fulfilment of that would 
have been wonderful enough — but they partic- 
ularize : — 



PREDICTION. 
" Gaza shall be forsaken." 

" Ashkelon shall not be inhabited." 
"A desolation." 

" Will cut off the inhabitants from 
Ashdod." 

" Ekron shall be rooted up." 



FULFILLMENT. 

The inhabitants forsook it and built 
a new town. 

Desolate — not an inhabitant within 
its walls. 

Inhabitants cut off, till reduced to a 
dilapidated Tillage. 

No trace of the name or site to be 
found. 



How remarkable that the very wording of the 
prophecies should agree so well with the facts fulfilling 
the same. Will any man now say that the influence of 
God had nothing to do with the production of these 
prophecies? Oh, "Tell it not in Gath ! Publish it 
not in Ashkelon ! " 



FOURTH SPECIFICATION. 

PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE CITY OF BABYLON 

" Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not 
regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 61 

Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces ; and they 
shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not 
spare children. 

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' 
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 

It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from gen- 
eration to generation ; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; 
neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses 
shall be full of doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there ; and 
gatyrs shall dance there. 

And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate 
houses, and the dragons in their pleasant palaces." 

"For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut 
off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, 
saith the Lord. 

I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of 
water ; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the 
Lord of hosts." — Isaiah xiii: 17-22— xiv: 22-23. 

When Isaiah penned the above, Babylon was a 
growing city, just rising to distinction, every day aug- 
menting its resources and enlarging its dominion. 
Nothing seemed more improbable than that that great 
city should ever be destroyed. It had all necessary re- 
sources at its command — agricultural, mercantile and 
military. Besides, it was guarded by strong and im- 
pregnable walls. A century passed away after Isaiah 
prophesied, during which Babylon not only remained 
" the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,' ' but actu- 
ally increased in power and magnificence. It would 
appear, to human judgment, that Isaiah's prediction 
had utterly failed. But, a short time before that proud 
metropolis reached the zenith of its glory, Jeremiah 
thundered against it as follows: — 

"And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of 
Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith 
the Lord. 

Behold, I am against thee, destroying mountain, saith the 
Lord, which destroyest all the earth ; and I will stretch out mine 



62 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make 
thee a burnt mountain. 

And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone 
for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate forever, saith the Lord. 

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the 
nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her 
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenazj, appoint a cap- 
tain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough cater- 
pillars. 

Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the 
captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his 
dominion. 

And the land shall tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the 
Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Baby- 
lon a desolation without an inhabitant. 

The mighty men of Babylon have foreborn to fight, they have 
remained in their holds; their might hath failed; they became as 
women; they have burned her dwelling places; her bars are 
broken. 

One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet 
another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at ene 
end. ♦ 

And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned 
with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 

For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; The daugh- 
ter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her; yet 
a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 

Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath 
crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed 
me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he 
hath cast me out. 

The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall 
the inhabitant of Zion say: and my blood upon the inhabitants of 
Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 

Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and 
take vengeance for thee ; and I will dry up her sea, and make her 
springs dry. 

And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an 
astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 

They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' 
whelps. 

In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them 
drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not 
wake, saith the Lord. 

I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams 
with he goats. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 63 

How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth 
surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment araon" the 
nations. —Jer. u: 24-41. See also Jer. l; li: 42-64; and Is. xlv 
and xxvn. 

Babylon continued to improve for a short time after 
Jeremiah prophesied. It was during the long and 
prosperous reign of Nebuchadnezzar that the greatest 
improvements took place. According to Berosus, a 
Chaldean historian, he adorned the temple of Belus, 
fortified the city with new walls, and erected the famous 
hanging gardens. — Josephus Against Apion, book i, 
sect. 19. The part that this ruler took in improving 
and beautifying the city caused him to say, in the 
pride of his heart, "Is not this great Babylon that 1 
have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might 

of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? " 

Dan. 4:30. 

But the word of the Lord cannot fail. It had been 
foretold that even this great city should be brought to 
desolation ; and it must come to pass. That it did 
come to pass as predicted, is attested by the accounts 
of the conquest of Babylon, furnished by Herodotus 
and Xenophon, two of the most ancient and authentic 
heathen historians. 

The Lord called Cyrus by name, and intimated the 
conspicuous part that he was to perform and how he 
should perform it, about a hundred years before he was 
born: — 

t u T^ssaith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrns, whose right : md 
I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the 
loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the 
gates shall not be shut; ' 



64 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; I 
will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of 
iron: 

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches 
of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call 
thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." — Isaiah, xlv: 1-3. 

In addition to all this the Lord says: " I will dry 
up thy rivers." Isaiah, xliv:27. All these things 
were minutely fulfilled. The leader of the siege 
against Babylon was Cyrus the Great. He dried up 
the river which ran through Babylon by turning the 
water off into a large artificial lake. His soldiers di- 
vided into two bodies and marched into the city through 
the bed of the river, both at its ingress and egress. 
He found the two-leaved gates leading from the river 
into the city left open through carelessness, and he had 
nought to do but to march into the city, break the 
gates and bars that protected the treasures, and take 
charge of the same. Not only did Cyrus get the 
' * treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret 
places " in Babylon, but he also conquered and took 
the treasures of Croesus, whose richness is proverbial. 

"The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of 
the Medes," etc. Jer. li: 11. " Go up, O Mam; be- 
siege, Media," Isa. xxi:2. " Elam " was the an- 
cient name of Persia. According to Bochart it was 
changed to " Persia " in the time of Cyrus. Cyrus 
was king of the Persians, and his uncle Darius Cyax- 
ares was king of Media. It is a well-known historical 
fact that Babylon was taken by the united forces of 
Media and Persia, under the command of Cyrus. But 
Darius was left to rule the same after it was captured. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 65 

It was foretold that Cyrus and Darius were to be 
aided by other nations from the north: "Prepare 
against her the nations with the kings of the Medes." 
Jeremiah, li : 28. "1 will cause to come against Baby- 
lon an assembly of great nations from the north coun- 
try." Jeremiah, 1: 9. Xenophon expressly mentions 
the Armenians, Phrygians, Lydians, Cappadocians, 
etc., all of which were north of Babylon. 

"The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to 
fight; they have remained in their holds; their might 
hath failed." Jeremiah, li : 30. Upon the approach 
of Cyrus, the Babylonians marched out to give him 
fight ; but were repulsed and driven back to the city, 
where they remained during a two years' siege. At 
the end of two years the city was taken by the strata- 
gem already alluded to, fulfilling the prediction: "I 
have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O 
Babylon, and thou wast not aware." Jer. 1: 24. 

"Babylon is suddenly fallen." Jer. li : 8. We learn 
from Herodotus that the attack was so sudden that 
people in the extreme parts of the city were made 
prisoners ere those in the centre knew anything of the 
danger. 

"In tl&ir heat 1 will make their feasts, and I will 
make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep 
a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord." — 
Jer. li: 39. The chief cause of the remarkable negli- 
gence on the part of the Babylonians was the fact that 
they were then engaged in the celebration of one of 
5 



66 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

their great annual festivals, of which drunkenness was 
one of the characteristics. Cyrus was aware of this, 
and took advantage of the occasion. Eead the 5th 
chapter of Daniel. 

"Her young men shall fall in the streets" Jer. 
1: 30. "Every one that is found shall be thrust 
through." — Isaiah, xiii : 15. Xenophon says Cyrus 
" sent a body of horse up and down through the streets, 
bidding them kill those they found abroad ; and order- 
ing some who understood the Syrian language, to pro- 
claim it to those that were within their houses to remain 
within, and that if any were found abroad they should 
be killed. These men did accordingly.' ' 

About twenty years afterward the Babylonians re- 
belled against Darius Hystaspes, the third successor of 
Cyrus. Another siege followed, during which, in order 
to save their provisions, the Babylonians put to death 
all their wives and young children, reserving one 
female to each family; in which we see a fulfilment 
of the prediction : "in one day two things, loss of 
children and widowhood, shall come upon them in their 
perfection." Isa. xlvii : 9. After a siege of one year 
and eight months, the city was taken by the strategy 
of Zopyrus, a friend of Darius, who cut off his own 
ears and nose and made the Babylonians believe that 
Darius had done it; and when he succeeded in getting 
their confidence and the keys of the city, he opened 
the gates to the Persians, who then marched in and 
took possession. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 67 

"They are cruel and will not shew mercy," — Jer. 
1 : 42. As soon as the Persians got possession of the 
city they put three thousand of the citizens to death 
by crucifixion. 

"The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken 
and her high gates burned with fire." — Jer. li: 58. 
To prevent a second insurrection, Darius broke down 
the greater part of the walls and removed the gates. 
The gates being of brass, of course they were melted 
in fire to convert them into other uses. 

God said he would punish Bel in Babylon, and " do 
judgment upon all the graven images of Babylon.' ' 
Jer. li : 47 ; Is. xxi: 9. Xerxes, son of Darius, Dio- 
dorus informs us, took the massive golden statue and 
other treasures out of the temple of Belus, amounting 
to a million of dollars, and then commanded that mag- 
nificent structure to be destroyed. 

But the decree had gone forth that Babylon should 
become a desolation, and, by the time it was captured 
by Alexander the Great, it had already begun to as- 
sume a desolate appearance. He undertook to rebuild 
the waste places, and restore the former splendor of 
the city, but he was cut off in the thirty-third year of 
his age. The successor of Alexander, Seleucus 
Nicanor, abandoned it altogether, building a new capi- 
tal on the Tigris, to which the major part of the Baby- 
lonians removed. From that time Babylon hastened 
to that state of desolation foretold by the prophets. 
A few years before the birth of Christ, Strabo wrote : 



68 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

" None of Alexander's successors ever cared more for 
Babylon ; and the remains of that city were entirely 
neglected. The Persians destroyed one part of it, and 
time, and the indifference of the Macedonian princes 
completed its ruin ; especially after Seleucus Nicanor 
had built Seleucia, in its neighborhood. And now Se- 
leucia is greater than Babylon, which is so much de- 
serted, that one may apply to it what the comic poet 
said of another place : * The great city is become a 
great desert." 

By the fifth century after Christ, Babylon became 
an " utter desolation, without an inhabitant.' ' This 
is one of the many cases in which there can not be 
a shadow of a doubt that the prophecies were in exis- 
tence long before the transpiring of the event predicted. 
Cyrus took Babylon B. C. 539. Isaiah prophesied in 
" the days of Uziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah," 
which was at least 160 years prior to the taking of 
Babylon, for Hezekiah died B. C. 699. Jeremiah sent 
his prophecies to Babylon, " in the fourth year of the 
reign of Zedekiah," fifty-six years before the taking 
of Babylon — the fourth year of Zedekiah coinciding 
with 595 B. C. But if there could be any doubt about 
those dates, one thing is absolutely certain, they fore- 
told the present condition of Babylon ; and, according 
to the universal testimony of travellers, it is just in the 
condition predicted. 

"Cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly." 
"Babylon shall become heaps." Jer. 1:26; li : 37. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 69 

The Infidel writer Volney, says: " Nothing is left of 
Babylon but heaps of earth trodden under foot of 
men." — The Ruins, chap. IV. " Where are those 
walls of Babylon ?" — The Ruins, chap. II. Mr. 
Rich says : "The ruins consist of mounds of earth, 
formed of the decomposition of buildings." Mr. Kep- 
pel says : ■ ' Vast heaps constitute all that now remains 
of ancient Babylon." Mr. Ryal speaks of immense 
heaps of pulverized bricks and rubbish. " 

"Pools of Waters Is. xiv : 23. Ryal says: ♦< The 
floods in their season, convert the surrounding country 
into a morass" Rich says the same. Sir Robert K. 
Porter, says : " For a long time after the subsiding of 
the Euphrates, a great part of the plain is little better 
than a swamp; and large deposits of water are left 
stagnant in the hollows between the ruins." — Travels 
in Ancient Babylonia, 1817-20. 

"It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt 
in from generation to generation: 9 Isaiah, xiii : 20. It 
has been about fourteen centuries since Babylon was 
inhabited by man, and the ruins are now in such a con- 
dition as to preclude their ever being again inhabited. 
In modern times, men needed a town in that section, 
and what did they do? Did they go into the ruins of 
this ancient city and inhabit them? Far from it! 
They built a little town, about two miles off, and called 
it Hillah. Kersey Graves, in a late Infidel work, tried 
to make it appear that the building of Hillah was a 
falsification of the prophecy. But this only shows the 



70 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

weakness of any attempt to falsify the prophecies. 
To dwell in a modern village, is not to inhabit Babylon 
by any means. If a man's large and magnificent resi- 
dence were to be burned down, leaving the walls stand- 
ing, and he were to say that he would never permit 
it to be inhabited, and no man should dwell in it. If, 
after those walls have crumbled into ruins, he permits 
a man to build a small cabin in the field, near the ruins, 
and dwell in it, can it be truthfully said that the man 
has spoken falsely? Again, Chicago was burned, but 
rose like Phoenix from her ashes, and is again inhabited. 
Suppose it should have remained in ruins for centuries, 
and become entirely destitute of inhabitants ; then 
suppose a village should have been built two miles from 
the ruins and called Hillah, could it be said that Chi- 
cago had been rebuilt, and that men were dwelling in 
it? Such efforts as that of Mr. Graves, to make it 
appear that the prophecies have failed, but strengthen 
my faith in their fulfillment ; for I know that if Infi- 
dels could make any respectable effort toward falsify- 
ing them, they would do so. 

"Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there." Isa. 
xiii: 20. It is well known that the superstitious fear 
of ghosts, and the dread of wild beasts, prevents the 
Arabs from camping among the ruins. 

"Neither shall the shepherds make their folds there. 11 
Is. xiii : 20. We have seen, in former pages, that it 
was prophesied of Rabbath-Ammon, and the Philistine 
cities, that they should be " stables for camels and 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 71 

folds for flocks." One might have been ready to con- 
clude, from these repetitions, that the prophets were 
writing according to human foresight — that it would 
be naturally expected that deserted cities would be 
used by shepherds as a shelter for their flocks. But 
lo, and behold ! here is a prediction just the reverse : 
It is said of Babylon, that shepherds shall " not make 
their folds th ere.'" We have seen that the other predic- 
tions were fulfilled, and from travellers we learn that this 
one is also fulfilled, though the reverse of the others. 
Upon this once fertile spot there is now no pasture for 
flocks, and the wild beasts would naturally deter shep- 
herds from taking their flocks there. So testify Kitto, 
Rich, Volney, and all travellers that have anything to 
say on the subject, without a single exception. Skep- 
tic, pause ! Answer me candidly and honestly; how 

COULD THE PROPHETS, MANY YEARS BEFORE THE 
DESTRUCTION OF CITIES, TELL WHICH ONES WOULD HAVE 
FLOCKS HERDED AMONG THEIR RUINS, AND WHICH ONES 
WOULD NOT? 

"But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and 
their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and oivls 
shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there" Is. 
xiii: 21. When Sir K. K. Porter and party were 
approaching the ruins, they saw two or three dark 
objects. Mr. Porter says: "I soon distinguished 
that the cause of our alarm were two or three majes- 
tic lions." He also says the "ruins are now the 
refuge of jackals and other savage animals." Ryal 



72 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

speaks of "deep pits and excavations, the dens and 
undisturbed retreats of wolves, hyenas, jackals, and 
wild boars." Mr. Rich says he "found porcupine 
quills, and in most of the cavities a number of bats 
and owls," Other writers speak to the same effect. 
"It shall be desolate; every one- that goeth by Baby- 
lon shall be astonished" Jer. 1: 13. Volney ex- 
claims : " O y e solitary ruins ! " * Capt . Mignan says : 
" I cannot portray the overpowering sensations of 
reverential awe that possessed my mind while contem- 
plating the extent and magnitude of ruin and devasta- 
tion on every side." — Mignan* s Travels, as quoted 
by Keith. Mr. Keppel says: "A more complete pic- 
ture of desolation could not well be imagined.' ' Mr. 
Porter says: " I could not but feel an indescribable 
awe in thus passing, as it were, into the gates of fallen 
Babylon." He speaks of the Euphrates still running 
through the silent ruins and devastation, and then ex- 
claims: "But how changed the rest of the scene! 
These broken hills were once palaces; these long, un- 
dulating mounds were streets ; this vast solitude was 
filled with the busy subjects of the proud daughter 
of the East. Now, wasted with misery, her habita- 
tions are not to be found." Well might the poet say : 

" Babylon, that walked in pride, 
Now sleeps a shapeless ruin." 

* The Ruras, ch. 3. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 73 



FIFTH SPECIFICATION. 

PREDICTION OF MOSES CONCERNING THE DISPERSION OF 
THE JEWS AND DESTRUCTION OF THEIR CITIES. 

"The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the 
end of the earth, as the eagle flieth ; a nation whose tongue thou 
shalt not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall 
not regard the person of the old, nor shew favor to the young; and 
he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until 
thou be destroyed; which also shall not leave thee corn, wine or oil, 
or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have de- 
stroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy 
high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, through- 
out all thy land : and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates through- 
out all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. 

And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy 
sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, 
in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall 
distress thee : So that the man that is tender among you, and very 
delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the 
wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which 
he shall leave: So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh 
of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him 
in the siege, and in the straightness, wherewith thine enemies shall 
distress thee in all thy gates. 

The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not ad- 
venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness 
and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her 
bosom, and toward her son and toward her daughter, and toward 
her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward 
her children which she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want 
of all things secretly in the siege and straightness, wherewith thine 
enemies shall distress thee in thy gates. 

If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are 
written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful 
name, THE LORD THY GOD ; then the Lord will make thy plagues 
wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and 
of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 

Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which 
thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 

Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the 
book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be 
destroyed. 



74 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars 
of heaven for multitude ; because thou wouldst not obey the voice 
of the Lord thy God. 

And it shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do 
you good, and to multiply you ; so the Lord will rejoice over you 
to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked 
from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. 

And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one 
end of the earth even unto the other ; and there thou shalt serve 
other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even 
wood and stone. 

And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the 
sole of thy foot have rest : but the Lord shall give thee there a 
trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind ; and thy 
life shall hang in doubt before thee ; and thou shalt fear day and 
night and shalt have none assurance of thy life ; in the morning thou 
shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, 
Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart, where- 
with thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou 
shalt see. 

And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships by the 
way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again; 
and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bond- 
women, and no man shall buy you." — Beut. xxviii: 49-68. 

This, of course, was to be the case in the event that 
they departed from the commandments of the Lord. 
But it is equal to an unconditional prophecy, for 
Moses goes on to say that they will do wrong, and 
depart from the commandments : — 

" I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves 
and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you ; and 
evil will befall you in the latter days ; because ye will do evil in the 
sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of 
your hands." — Deut. xxxi: 29. 

Here, then, is a plain and unequivocal prediction 
that a foreign nation should come against the Jews, 
besiege their cities, conquer them, disperse them, and 
sell some into bondage, leaving but a remnant. A 
perusal of Josephus' Jewish Wars will show that this 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 75 

was fulfilled when the Romans under Titus invaded 
their land and destroyed Jerusalem. In proof of the 
fact that Josephus gives a correct account of this war, 
he appeals to Vespasian, Titus, and King Agrippa to 
attest the truthfulness of his statements ; and not only 
so, but Titus signed the book with his own hand, certi- 
fying that it was authentic. [Life of Josephus, sec. 65 ; 
Josephus against Apion, Book 1 , sec. 9.~\ Here, then, 
we have the testimony of two leading generals, one on 
the side of the Jews and the other on the side of the 
Romans. If human testimony can be relied upon at all, 
this history cannot be doubted. 

In the prediction before us there are at least twelve 
distinct statements, and all of them have been fulfilled 
to the letter: — 

1. A nation was to come against them from afar. 
Verse 49. 

Not only was Rome far from them, in comparison 
to other nations that had invaded their land, but the 
soldiers composing the army were mostly from Gaul 
(France), Spain and Britain. Vespasian, the general- 
in-chief, and afterward Emperor, was from England, 
which was then considered and denominated the end of 
the earth. It is said that Caesar's soldiers were un- 
willing to follow him to the conquest of Britain, because 
they thought he was passing the limits of the world. 
See Josephus' Wars of the Jews, book 3, ch. 1, sec. 2 ; 
ch. 4; chs* 6 and 7. 



76 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

2. "As the eagle flieth." Verse 49. 

It is well known that the national ensign under which 
the Komans fought was an eagle. A fit emblem of their 
prowess and rapaciousness. 

3. "A nation whose tongue thou shalt not under- 
stand." 49. 

Josephus alludes to the difficulties that arose from 
the Roman language being unintelligible to the Jews. 
The Latin is more foreign to the structure and idiom 
of the Hebrew than any other ancient language. 

4. It was to be a nation of fierce countenance, disre- 
garding the old and showing no favor to the young. 50. 

Josephus says when the Romans took Gadara, " they 
slew all the youth, having no mercy on any age what- 
ever." — Wars, booh 3, ch. 7. On the capture of 
Joppa, " after the fighting men were killed, they cut 
the throats of the rest of the multitude, partly in the 
open air, partly in their own houses, both young and 
old." — Wars, book 3, ch. 7. On taking Tarichea, 
Vespasian slew all the " old men, together with 
others that were useless, who were in number twelve 
hundred." — Wars, booh 3, ch. 7. 

At Gamala they slew all the inhabitants, including 
women and infants, only two women escaping. — Wars, 
booh 4, ch. 1. 

5. " They shall eat the fruit of thy land," etc. 51. 
Wherever the soldiers marched they feasted upon 

the good things of the land. In speaking of the cap- 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 77 

ture of different cities by different commanders Jose- 
phus frequently uses such language as this: " He 
allowed the soldiers to seize as plunder all good 
things." — Wars, books 2 and 3. 

6. The invaders were to besiege them in all their 
gates. 52. Josephus very particularly records the 
siege and capture of the principal cities. Such as 
Jerusalem, book 6 ; Jotapata, book 3 ; Joppa, book 3, 
chap. 9 ; Tarichea, chap. 10; Gamala, book 4, chap. 
1 ; Gischala, chap. 2; Gadara, book 4, chap. 9, etc. 

7. They were to suffer terribly by famine, in so much 
so, that parents should eat their own children. 

Josephus says : — 

"But the famine was too hard for all other passions, and it is 
instructive to nothing so much as to modesty; for what was other- 
wise worthy of reverence was in this case despised; insomuch that 
children pulled the very morsels that their fathers were eating out 
of their very mouths, and what was still more to be pitied, so did 
the mothers do as to their infants ; and when those that were most 
dear were perishing under their hands, they were not ashamed to 
take from them the very last drops that might preserve their 
lives." — Wars, book 5, chap. 10. 

But that is not all. Moses had foretold that the 
tender and delicate woman should even eat her own 
children, " secretly in the siege." Verses 56 and 57. 
Josephus gives an account of a lady of eminent and 
wealthy family who " slew her son, and then roasted 
him, and ate the one-half of him, and kept the other 
half by her, concealed. Upon this, the Seditious came 
in presently, and smelling the horrid scent of this food, 
they threatened her that they would cut her throat im- 
mediately if she did not show them what food she had 



78 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

gotten ready.' ' She replied that she had " saved a very 
fine portion of it for them," and, withal, uncovered 
what was left of her son. Hereupon they were seized 
with horror and amazement of mind, and stood aston- 
ished at the sight, when she said to them : " This is 
my own son, and what hath been done is my own 
doing. Come, eat this food, for I have eaten of it my- 
self. Do not you pretend to be either more tender 
than a woman, or more compassionate than a mother; 
but if you be so scrupulous, and abominate this, my 
sacrifice, as I have eaten the one-half, let the rest be 
reserved for me also. ,, After which, those men went 
out trembling, being never so much affrighted at any 
thing, as they were at this, and with some difficulty, 
they left the rest of that meat to the mother." — Wars, 
book 6, chap. 3, sec. 4. 

8. The Jews were to be sore distressed. 59-61. 
Our historian says " the lanes of the city were full 

of the dead bodies of the aged ; the children and the 
young men wandered about the market places like 
shadows, all swelled with famine, and fell down dead 
wheresoever their misery seized them." ; — Wars, book 
5, chap. 12. Again, he says : " Those that were thus 
distressed by the famine were very desirous to die, and 
those already dead were esteemed happy, because they 
had not lived long enough either to hear or see such 
miseries." — Book 6, chap. 3. 

9. They were to be left few in number. 62. 

By the time this terrible war ended the Jews were 
certainly left few in number. According to the ac- 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 79 

oounts furnished by Josephus, the number of thosei 
destroyed during the course of the war could not have' 
been much less than a million and a half. Eleven hun- 
dred thousand perished in the siege of Jerusalem alone. 
They afterward revolted in Egypt, where a great num- 
ber of them were taken, and a great multitude were 
slain. — Wars, book 6, chaps. 8, 9. 

10. They were to be plucked off their own land and 
scattered among all nations. 63, 64. 

They were plucked off their own land when it was 
subdued and demolished, and it is well known that they 
are scattered amoug all nations. They are to be found 
in Turkey, Poland, Holland, Kussia, Prussia, Austria, 
Germany, Tunis, Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Portugal, 
France, England, America, Hindoostan, Persia, China, 
Japan, and, in fact, everywhere on the globe. 

11. Among the nations where they were driven they 
were to have no ease, but affliction and sorrow. 65-67. 

Such has been their fate. They have been most 
woefully despised, persecuted and oppressed. From 
Gibbon we learn that throughout the Roman Empire, 
at one time, they were deprived of most of the privi- 
leges of citizens, and their synagogues were frequently 
destroyed by mobs. And in the fifth century those in 
Alexandria were expelled from the city to the number 
of forty thousand, their synagogues demolished, and 
their houses plundered. They were the first victims 
of the cruelty of Mahomet, and in all Mohammedan 
countries they have been universally oppressed and 



80 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

abused. It is said when a Persian murders a Jew he 
has only to cut around his finger so as to draw blood, 
and the offence is expiated. In Spain, in the seventh 
century, Sisebut, the ruler, confiscated the property 
and tortured the bodies of a great many, as we learn 
from Gibbon. And, from the Encyclopedia Brittan- 
ica, we learn that in 1492, the same year Columbus 
discovered America, an order was issued that every 
unbaptized Jew should leave the country in four 
months or be put to death. This caused a general 
lamentation among them. They appealed to Ferdin- 
and for mercy, but all in vain. They had to leave the 
country. From the same publication we learn that 
there was a general slaughter of Jews in 1391, in 
which four thousand families were slain. During the 
same year many thousands were butchered in Cordova, 
Toledo and Valencia. It must be remembered, also, 
that when Jerusalem was taken, all the children under 
seventeen years of age were forcibly taken from their 
parents and sold into slavery. And S. B. Wickens 
says that in France, Germany, Spain and Portugal the 
children of Jews have often been forcibly taken and 
given into the hands of priests to be educated as Cath- 
olics. He also says, and quotes authority to prove, 
that the king of Portugal issued a secret order to seize 
all Jewish children, under fourteen years of age, and 
disperse them through the country to be brought up as 
Christians. The order was instantly put into execu- 
tion. He also states that many parents put their chil- 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 81 

dren to death with their own hands, rather than let 
them fall into the hands of their enemies. — Mihnan's 
Borne; and Fulfillment of Prophecy, page 125. 

The persecution still rages in modern times, as the 
following from the New York Tribune, republished in 
the New Orleans Picayune, of February 18, 1882, 
will show : — 

"The minute accounts published in London of the persecution 
of the Hebrews in Russia cannot fail to excite the compassion 
and indignation of the English-speaking world. The Pall Mall 
Gazette has given startling emphasis to the meager references 
made in the officially revised dispatches from St. Petersburg 
to the riotous disturbances of the last nine months, and its 
scathing invectives are fully justified by the details furnished by a 
correspondent of the Times (London). It is a most hideous record 
of rapine, lust and inhumanity. If the Turkish butchers in Bulgaria 
were more bloodthirsty and barbarous, the Russian mobs are every 
whit as cruel and debased, swayed as they have been by a passionate 
hatred of the Jews which is distinctively mediaeval in spirit. More- 
over the authorities have not only been wholly as supine as the 
Turkish Government, but they have openly abetted and officially 
justified these hateful and frenzied outbreaks of savagery and fanati- 
cism. The signal for these atrocities was given a few weeks after 
the assassination of the czar. At P^lizabethgrad, a town in South 
Russia, where the Jewish community formed at least a third of the 
population, a mob, having sacked a wine shop and become inflamed 
with liquor, attacked the synagogues. For forty-eight hours the 
rioters remained in possession of the Jewish quarter, the soldiers 
who were called out to suppress the revolt joining heartily in the 
work of destruction, pillage and lust. As many as one hundred 
shops and warehouses and five hundred houses were demolished, 
the losses of the victims being estimated at $1,500,000. This was 
the first outbreak. It was followed in a week by riots in Smielo 
and Kieff, where the troops and police again supported the mob, 
participating fully in this double assault upon property and virtue. 
At Kieff the attack was deliberately announced in advance, and when 
the governor was called upon to protect twenty thousand Hebrew 
residents of the city, he refused to give his soldiers any trouble 
11 for the sake of a pack of Jews." The consequence was that two 
thousand of the hated race were left without shelter, and in the 
sight of husbands and fathers married women and young girls 
were made the victims of the most brutal assaults. From this time 



82 HAND-BOOK of christian evidence. 

until the end of the year there was scarcely a town in Southern and 
Southwestern Kussia where similar scenes were not enacted. As many 
as one hundred and sixty villages and towns were at different times 
during eight months at the mercy of a besotted rabble. The frenzy 
spread from town to country until it reached the pettiest hamlet 
where there was a single Jew with a little ready money to lend. 
It finally flamed out in the ancient capital during Christmas week, 
when an alarm of fire was raised simultaneously in two synagogues, 
and a thousand houses and shops were plundered and destroyed. 

But it is unnecessary to dwell on horrid details. It 
is a well-known fact that the Jews have been perse- 
cuted in all countries except, perhaps, the United 
States ; and even here, though the government has 
protected them, individuals have mistreated them. 

12. Some of them were to be taken into Egypt and 
sold as slaves, 68. 

Josephus says " those above seventeen were sent 
bound into Egypt to work in the mines,' ' those under 
seventeen were sold " at a very low price, because the 
numbers sold were so great, and the purchasers but 
few." " The whole number of those who were car- 
ried captive during this war, amounted to ninety-seven 
thousand." — Wars, booh 6, chaps. 8 and 9. 

[Egypt was the great slave mart of the world, and was 
frequently overstocked, which explains why those cap- 
tives were dull sale there.] 

Now, remember that fifteen hundred years before 
these things happened, they were minutely foretold by 
Moses — he even told his people that they should be 
carried again into Egypt as slaves and sold in such 
large numbers that buyers could not be found — and 
it all came to pass as he predicted. He was inspired 
of God. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 83 

SIXTH SPECIFICATION. 

DESOLATION OF THE HOLY LAND FORETOLD. 

The Lord said to the children of Israel, through 
Moses, that if they transgressed his law and did not 
hearken to his will, which he also said they would do, 
that the following calamities should come upon their 
land : — 

"Your highways shall be desolate." 

"And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries 
unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet 
odours. 

And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies 
which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a 
sword after you ; and your land shall be desolate, and your cities 
waste. 

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth deso- 
late, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, 
and enjoy her sabbaths." — LEV. xxvi: 22, 31-34. 

14 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise 
up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall 
say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses 
which the Lord hath laid upon it; and that the whole land thereof 
is brimstone * and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, 
nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and 
Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his 
anger, and in his wrath ; even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath 
the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this 
great anger? 

Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of 
the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he 
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt." — Deut. xxix: 22-25. 

That this land was at one time fertile and produc- 
tive, a "land flowing with milk and honey," can be 



♦Mr. Roberts, in his "Oriental Illustrations," says: "When a place Is 
noted for being: very unhealthy, or the land very unfruitful, it is called 
"kerthago poomy," a place or country of brimstone." 



84 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

established by an abundance of authority outside of 
the Bible. Even such men as Josephus, Tacitus, Gib- 
bon and Yolney attest the fact. Josephus says : " The 
fruitfulness of Gallilee was such as to invite "the 
most slothful to take pains in its cultivation; " and 
speaks of Judea and Samaria possessing " excellence 
and abundance." — Wars, book 3,ch. 3. Tacitus, the 
Koman historian, says : " The soil is rich and fertile; 
besides the fruits known in Italy, the palm and balm 
tree flourish in great luxuriance." — History , book 6, 
sec. 6. Gibbon says Syria was improved by the most 
early cultivation, and adds : " From the age of David 
to that of Heraclius the country was overspread with 
ancient and flourishing cities." — Decline and Fall, ch. 
51. Yolney, comparing the present with the ancient 
condition of the country, says : " We are informed by 
the philosophical geographer, Strabo, that the terri- 
tories of Jamnia and Joppa in Palestine, alone, were 
formerly so populous as to be able to bring forty thou- 
sand armed men into the field. At present they could 
scarcely furnish three thousand. From the accounts 
we have of Judea in the time of Titus, and which are 
to be esteemed tolerably accurate, that country must 
have contained four millions of inhabitants ; but at 
present there are not perhaps above three hundred 
thousand." Further on he says: " There is nothing 
in nature or experience to contradict the great popula- 
tion of high antiquity ; without appealing to the posi- 
tive testimony of history, there are innumerable 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 85 

monuments that depose in favor of the fact. Such 
are the prodigious quantities of ruins dispersed over 
the plains, and even in the mountains, at this day de- 
serted. On the most remote parts of Carmel are found 
wild vines and olive trees which must have been con- 
veyed thither by the hand of man; and in Lebanon, 
the rocks now abandoned to fir trees and brambles, 
present us in a thousand places with terraces, which 
prove they were anciently better cultivated, and conse- 
quently much more populous than in our days." — 
Travels in Syria, chap. 32. Again he says: " The 
plain country is rich and light, calculated for the great- 
est fertility." — Ibid, chap. 1, sec. 6. 

How remarkable that such a country should become 
desolate and almost depopulated ! And how much 
more remarkable that Moses should foretell its condition 
many hundred years before the change took place ! 
Notwithstanding the wonderful fertility of the soil, 
the remarkable salubrity of the climate, and the 
noted prosperity of the country, the Jewish lawgiver 
predicted that it should be, as it were, a barren waste, 
desolate and deserted ; and the other prophets concur- 
red with him in the prophecy, and it has been most 
strickingly fulfilled, even in the minutest particulars ! 

"Your highways shall be desolate." Lev. xxvi:22 

"The highways \or roads'] lie waste." Isa. 
xxxiii:8. 

The Infidel writer Volney confims the truth of this 
prophecy by saying: "In the interior parts of the 



86 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

country there are neither great roads, nor canals, nor 
even bridges, etc. The roads in the mountains are 
extremely bad. It is remarkable that throughout Syria 
neither a wagon nor a cart is to be seen." — -Travels in 
Syria, chap 38. "There is no establishment either 
of post or of public conveyance.* ' — Ibid, The roads 
have not changed since Volney's day. A recent writer 
and traveller, Thos. W. Knox, says : "A rugged path, 
where the rocks threaten to give us some dangerous 
tumbles, brings us to Tel el Kady, about four miles 
from Banias. This place is better known as Dan." — 
Life and Adventures in the Orient, page 330. " Less 
than an hour from Dan, over a stony, and marshy plain, 
brings us to Ain Belat." — Same book, page 331. 
" The way is rough in many places, and we wonder 
how it has been allowed to remain so in all the thous- 
ands of years that it has been in use." — Page 341. 
In speaking of a tour from Tabor to Nazareth he says : 
" The road is crooked and narrow, and winds among 
forests of oak and tangles of brush, until within a mile 
or more of Nazareth, when we get among bare hills." 
Page 347 . The condition of the roads is complained 
of by travellers generally. Chas. Dudley Warner 
writes : "We went out of the Damascus Gate [at 
Jerusalem], through which runs the great northern 
highway to Samaria and Damascus. The road, how- 
ever, is but a mere path over ledges and through loose 
stones, fit only for donkeys. If Rehoboam went this 
way in his chariot to visit Jeroboam in Samaria, there 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 87 

must have existed then a better road." — Atlantic 
Monthly, Oct., 1876, Art. "Neighborhoods of Jeru- 
salem." 

"I will make your cities waste." Lev. xxvi: 31. 

"The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste" 
Ez. xii : 20. 

Volney says: "The towns are destroyed, and the 
earth stript of inhabitants." "I have visited the 
places that were the theatre of so much splendor, and 
have beheld nothing but solitude and desertion." — 
The Ruins, chap. 2. " Every day I met with deserted 
villages." — Ruins, chap. 1. Jericho, which was sec- 
ond only to Jerusalem in size, has been so utterly de- 
molished, that the site it occupied is not definitely 
known; and even Jerusalem itself is nothing more 
than a desolate village, when compared with what it 
was before it was destroyed by the Eomans. Yolney 
says of it: " This town presents a striking example of 
the vicissitudes of human affairs : when we behold its 
walls levelled, its ditches filled up, and all its buildings 
embarrassed with ruins, we can scarcely believe we 
view that celebrated metropolis which formerly with- 
stood the efforts of the most powerful empires, and 
for a time resisted the arms of Rome herself — in a 
word, we with difficulty recognize Jerusalem." None 
of those Syrian cities, at the present time, have any- 
thing attractive about them but their unattractiveness. 
Travellers frequently write of them like Thomas W. 
Knox : ' * There is nothing attractive about the place 



88 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

[Deborich] ; it has the repulsive features of most of 
the Syrian villages, and you wonder how the natives 
manage to live, or even wish to do so/' — Life and 
Adventures in the Orient, page 347. 

"Will bring your sanctuaries unto desolation." 
Lev. xxvi: 31. 

So prophesied Moses; and Volney, with all his infi- 
delity, is on hand to record the fulfillment: "The 
temples are thrown down. ,, — Volney' s Ruins, chap. 
2. When Titus captured Jerusalem, he tried to pre- 
serve Solomon's temple, the chief sanctuary, but all in 
vain; it was destroyed, and has never since been re- 
built. Julian made an attempt to rebuild it, but it 
proved unsuccessful. 

"I will bring the land into desolation; and your ene- 
mies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it." 
Lev. xxvi : 32. 

"The whole land is spoiled." "It is desolate as 
overthrown by strangers." Jer. iv : 20; Isa. i : 7. 

"Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished." 
Jer. xviii : 16. 

Says Volney: " So feeble a population in so excel- 
lent a country may well excite our astonishment; but 
this will be increased if we compare the present num- 
ber of inhabitants with that of ancient times. " — 
Travels in Syria, chap. 32. He says again : " Every 
day as I proceeded on my journey, I found fields lying 
waste.' ' — The Ruins, chap. 1. " Nothing is to be seen 
but solitude and sterility." — Ruins, chap. 2. "It is 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 89 

destitute of that fresh and living verdure which almost 
constantly adorns our own lands, and of the grassy 
and flowery carpet which covers the meadows of Nor- 
mandy and Flanders. The earth in Syria always looks 
dusty, yet probably the country would have been 
shaded by forests, had it not been laid waste by the 
hand of man." — Travels in Syria, chap. 32, sec. 1. 

I take space to add one extract from a very recent 
traveller, Thomas W. Knox. He speaks of his fore- 
noon's ride being a dreary one, and continues : " We 
have five hours of it, or nearly that period, in a wild 
country overlooking the valley of the Jordan on the 
left, and having no attractions of its own. It is a 
scene of desolation. There were no trees — scarcely is 
there any vegetation, and the only inhabitants are peo- 
ple who live somewhere else. The hot, dry landscape 
is unforbidding in every feature, and only the historic 
character of the country rewards us for our trouble.' ' — 
Life and Adventures in the Orient, page 332. 

Volney says God " has doubtless pronounced a 
secret malediction against this land. In what consists 
that anathema of Heaven? Where is the divine curse 
which perpetuates the desolation of these coun- 
tries?" — Ruins, chap. 2. 

"I will scatter you among the heathen.' 9 Lev. 
xxvi: 33. 

We have already seen that this prediction was ful- 
filled. The Jews have been plucked off their land. 
Volney says: " I looked for those ancient people and 



90 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

their works, and all I could find was a faint trace, like 
to what the foot of a traveller leaves on the sand." — 
Ruins, chapter J?. 

" The wild gazelle on Judah's hills 

Exulting yet may bound, 
And drink from all the living rills 

That gush on holy ground : 
But we must wander witheringly, 

In other lands to die ; 
And where our fathers' ashes be, 

Our own may never lie." 

— Byron's Hebrew Melodies. 

Again, Moses told them that the generation to come 
of their children, and the stranger that should come 
from a far land, etc., when they should see the great 
desolation, they should say: "Wherefore hath the 
Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the 
heat of this great anger?" Deut. xxix: 22-24. 

Over three thousand years after this language was 

written, M. C. F. Volney, an avowed Infidel, visited 

this country, a stranger from a strange land, and, 

overpowered with the dreary aspect, thus gave vent to 

his emotions : — 

"The history of past times strongly presented itself to my 
thoughts. I enumerated the kingdoms of Damascus and Idumea; 
of Jerusalem and Samaria ; and the warlike States of the Philistines ; 
and the commercial republics of Phoenicia. ' This Syria,' said I to 
myself, 'then contained a hundred flourishing cities, and abounded 
with towns, villages and hamlets. Everywhere one might have seen 
cultivated fields, frequented roads and crowded habitations. 
Ah! what are become of those ages of abundance and of life? 
What are become of so many prodnctions of the hand of man? 
Alas! I have traversed this desolate country, I have visited the 
places that were the theatre of so much splendor, and I have beheld 
nothing but solitude and desertion. I looked for those ancient 
people and their works, and all I could find was a faint tnfa. like to 
what the foot of a traveller leaves on the sand. Tho tunnies :ire 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 91 

thrown down, the palaces demolished, the ports filled up, the towns 
destroyed, and the earth, stripped of its inhabitants, seems a dreary 
burying place. Great God! from whence proceed such melancholy 
revolutions'? For what cause is the fortune of these countries so strik- 
ingly changed 1 ? Why is not that ancient people reproduced and perpet- 
uated?' " — Volney's Ruins, Chap. 2. 

How remarkable that such a wonderful confirmation 
of Scripture should be found in a book written ex- 
pressly with the design of disproving the Scriptures ! 

The same question was to be asked by all nations, 
i.e., individuals in all nations, and Moses even ventures 
to tell the answer that should be given: " Then men 
shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of 
the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with 
them when he brought them forth out of the land of 
Egypt." Deut. xxix: 25. And that very answer 
has been given almost an innumerable number of 
times. 

And now, I say to skeptics : Here is a plain and 
unquestionable case of fulfilled prophecy. You can 
not quibble about whether the prophecy was written 
before the event ; for the event is now, and the pre- 
diction was written thousands of years ago, and was 
read by Jews, Greeks, and others, while that land was 
yet in a prosperous condition. You can not say that 
Moses and the prophets, Volney and all modern travel- 
lers, Jews, Christians and Infidels, have all conspired 
together to deceive you ! I now say, if you are not 
yet convinced, take the Bible in one hand and Volney's 
works in the other, go to the Holy Land, perch your- 
self upon some ancient ruin, read, examine, observe 



92 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

and meditate. We have the prophecy and the fulfillment 
can be verified by actual observation at any time. 
That desolate country stands a living monument to the 
truth of revelation. 



SEVENTH SPECIFICATION. 

PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE PERPETUITY OF THE JEWS. 

"And yet, for all that, when they " For I am with thee, saith the 

be in the land of their enemies, I Lord, to save thee ; though I make a 

will not cast them away, neither will I full end of all nations whither I have 

abhor them, to destroy them utterly, scattered thee, yet will I not make a 

and to break my covenant with them ; full end of thee: but I will correct 

for I am the Lord their God." — Le- thee in measure, and will not leave 

viticus xxvi : 44. thee altogether unpunished." — Jer- 

" Lo, the people shall dwell alone, emiah xxx: 11. 

and shall not be reckoned among the "Fear thou not, O Jacob my ser- 

nations."— Numbers xxiii: 9. vant, saith the Lord; for I am with 

"Behold, I am with thee, and will thee; for I will make a full end of all 
keep thee in all places whither thou the nations whither I have driven 
goest, and will bring thee again into thee ; but I will not make a full end 
this land; fori will not leave thee, of thee, but correct thee in measure; 
until I have done that which I have yet will I not leave thee wholly un- 
spoken to the of." --Genesis 28:15. punished." — Jeremiah xlvi: 28. 

We have already seen that the Israelites have, ac- 
cording to these and other predictions, been scattered 
among all the nations of the earth. Their exact num- 
ber is not known, but a late issue of the New York 
World states that there are more than there were in the 
days of King Solomon, and it is estimated that they 
number near ten millions: Full 2,000,000 in Eussian 
dominions; 1,200,000 in Austria ; 223,000 in Prussia 
and Posen ; 200,000 in the German States; 87,000 in 
France; 75,000 in Holland; 13,000 in Belgium; 
45,000 in England; 32,000 in Italy, there being half 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 93 

that number in Rome ; 400,000 in European Turkey; 
6,000 in the Ionian Islands ; 9,000 in Denmark ; 4,000 
in Switzerland ; 250,000 in the United States ; 50,000 
in the remaining American territory, including the 
West Indies; and a large number in Africa, Spain, 
Portugal, and other places not estimated. Facts and 
figures show that that part of the prophecy has been 
fulfilled. 

It was said that they should suffer some among the 
nations ; should be measurably corrected and not left 
altogether without punishment. We have also seen 
that that part has been fulfilled; and could accumulate 
evidence, but it is unnecessary. In connection with 
this, however, it may be well enough to call attention 
to the fact that they were to become " a proverb and 
a by-word " among the nations. Deut. xxviii : 37, and 
Jer. xxiv: 9. This is also strikingly fulfilled, and 
is a part of their punishment, They have been treated 
with disrespect in all countries. In Spain it was once 
a penal offence to call a man a Jew. Mr. Lane says 
that quarrelling Egyptians call each other dogs, pigs, 
and Jews, and regard the last name as the most de- 
grading epithet. He also states that Arabs often 
abuse their jaded beasts by calling them very oppro- 
brious nicknames, and finally by calling them Jews. — 
Manners and Customs of Modern Egyptians. The 
Emperor Constantine, in a public document, termed 
the Jews the most hateful of all people. And you 
know that in this country we are familiar with such 



94 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

proverbs and by-words as, "It beats the Jews," "As 
rich as a Jew," " Don't jew me!" How did Moses 
foreknow these things over three thousand years ago ?* 

Not only were the Jews to be scattered among all 
nations, but they were to remain a separate and dis- 
tinct people ; they were not to be reckoned among the 
nations. This, too, has been remarkably fulfilled. 
They are among all people ; yet, as a general rule, 
intermarry and mingle with none. They trade with 
the Gentiles, but otherwise they dwell apart and wor- 
ship among themselves. "They dwell alone." In 
some of the cities throughout the various nations, they 
live among themselves, isolated from the other inhabi- 
tants, in what are called " Jews' quarters." That is 
even true of Jerusalem. 

How remarkable that, during the long night of their 
dispersion, they should have remained a separate and 
distinct people, notwithstanding they have no temple, 
no prince, no sacrifice, and no certain dwelling place ! 
Reason would have said, that if any nation of antiquity 
lost its identity, it would be the Jews, scattered as 
they are, over the whole habitable globe ; but, they 
are the ones, above all others, that have preserved 
their identity ! They realize that they are one. Touch 



* The above prediction has been sufficiently fulfilled, and it must be re- 
membered that there are other prophecies concerning those people: 

"And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O 
house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a 
blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong." — Zec. viii: 13. 

"Thou shalt lend unto many nations; but thou shalt not borrow." — 
Detjt. xv : 6. 

Think of such bankers as the Rothchilds, and Jewish pawn-brokers in 
every city. 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 95 

Israel as a chord, and it vibrates to the ends of the 
earth ! " From the tops of the rocks, I see him, from 
the hills I behold him ! lo, the people shall dwell alone, 
and shall not be reckoned among the nations!" Oh 
Israel, whither shall I go from thy presence; whither 
shall I flee from thy descendants? If I take the 
steamers of the Atlantic, or the schooners of the 
Pacific, and dwell in the Islands of the sea, behold, 
there are the seed of Isaac ! If I go to the remotest 
trading post on the borders of civilization, behold there 
are the sons of Abraham. 

But the main point in the predictions now under con- 
sideration, is their perpetuity. God told them that he 
would not destroy them utterly ; that he would make 
a full end of all the surrounding nations, but that he 
would never make a full end of them. If the Jews were 
exterminated, or their identity lost, it would nullify the 
prophecies and nullify the Scriptures ; but as long as 
they continue they stand forth a living monument of 
the truth of revelation. This prophecy was first enun- 
ciated by Moses, centuries afterward, it was repeated 
by Jeremiah, and since that time the Jews have under- 
gone many trials and vicissitudes, but they still live. 
The strength of all nations seems to have been combined 
to crush them , but they are still in existence . The Egyp- 
tians oppressed them ; the Philistines were continually at 
war with them; the Chaldeans invaded their land; 
the Babylonians carried them captive, causing them to 
bang their harps on the willows, and cease to sing the 



96 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

songs of Jehovah ; bordering nations harassed them ; 
the Macedonians annoyed them ; and the Romans over- 
threw their kingdom and demolished their capital, — 
and yet for all that, they were not extinguished ! 
They were scattered and peeled, murdered and 
enslaved, yet they survived ; they were dispersed 
among all nations, yet they preserved their identity. 
In more modern times, they have been persecuted, 
down-trodden and oppressed, in Russia, Prussia, 
Servia, Portugal, Spain, China, Germany, France, 
England, and other nations, but they are not yet ex- 
terminated. They have been robbed, plundered, 
abused, slain ; their children taken from them ; ban- 
ished, ostracised, frustrated, annoyed, harrassed and im- 
prisoned, but they are still on the land, and amongst 
the living. They can neither be extinguished, nor 
their identity destroyed. Like Banquo's ghost, they 
will up, and they will not down. The decree of Jeho- 
vah has gone forth that they shall not be utterly de- 
stroyed ; and during their latest persecutions, they 
have been on the increase. They continue to multipy 
and replenish the earth. 

This is about the most convincing case of fulfilled 
prophecy in the entire list ; not only on account of 
its continuity, but on account of the fact that it 
is ever present before our eyes. The desolation of 
Judea, and the destruction of the various cities whose 
destiny was foretold, are, like this, very remarkable 
instances of fulfillment, and we take them up anc 1 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 97 

hold them forth as indubitable evidences of God's 
word ; because the fulfillment is not a thing of the past, 
but continues from year to year, and can, at any time, 
be subjected to examination. The traveller can go to 
those scenes of desolation, sit down among the ruins, 
Bible in hand, and note the wonderful fulfillment of 
the prophecies. But many of us cannot go to those 
ancient ruins, and, in their solitude, see the finger of 
God. But the Jews we always have with us. In them 
we have a fulfillment continually before our eyes. 
•They associate with us, talk with us, trade with us. 
They are on our streets, in our stores, in all our public 
places, " epistles known and read of all men," the 
ever-living evidence of the fulfillment of the prediction 
concerning their dispersion and perpetuity ! This in- 
stance of truthful prediction is subject to the inspection 
of all. Wherever the prophecy is read, the fulfillment 
is seen. 

The Jews have outlived all their ancient enemies. 
The destroyed survive the destroyers ! Where are 
those ancient nations that oppressed them? Where 
are the Assyrians ? Where are the Philistines ? Where 
are the Chaldeans ? Where the Macedonians ? Where 
are the Komans? Where are the Ammonites and 
Moabites ? All passed away. There are no people now 
living that can say that they descended from those 
nations of antiquity ! Nor are there any that can 
establish the fact that they descended from the ancient 
Egyptians, or from the Medes and Persians ! But the 
7 



98 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Jews can trace their ancestry back to the people who 
were delivered from Egyptian bondage by Moses. 

As long as the Jews survive I will believe the Bible 
to be of divine origin. Do you want to shake my 
faith in the truthfulness of Moses and the prophets? 
Let me stand by the death-bed of the last surviving 
Hebrew — let me see him expire, and follow him to 
the grave; then, and not till then, will I renounce my 
faith in inspiration ! Then, upon the tomb of the last 
of this ancient race, I will drop a tear, and write as his 
epitaph : — 

" The prophet was deceived: 
The Lord deceived the prophet." 

In the commencement of this chapter, be it remem- 
bered, I set out to furnish conclusive and irrefutable 
evidence that the writings of the Old Testament are of 
divine origin. I now leave it to the candid and unbiased 
reader to decide whether I have accomplished my task. 
I have shown that Moses, Nahum, Amos, Isaiah, 
Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, andZechariah, all fore- 
told events that should transpire, and described condi- 
tions that should be brought about, many years, and in 
some cases, many centuries, beforehand; thus prov- 
ing the inspiration of eight writers, and the divine 
origin of thirteen books. It would be an easy matter 
to demonstrate the same truth with reference to other 
writers, upon the same line of argument; and, in fact, 
the divine origin of the book of Daniel, and some 
others, has been proved so many times, that I would 
deem it a superfluous undertaking to detain the reader 



FULFILLED PROPHECIES. 99 

by calling his attention to the minute fulfillment of the 
many remarkable predictions contained therein. I 
have labored seven specifications, none of which can 
be gainsaid or successfully confuted. This proves 
that the Book is of divine origin, because none but 
God has the power to foretell, with certainty, future 
events. " Future contingencies, such as those which 
relate to the rise and fall of nations and states not yet 
in existence, or to the minute concerns of individuals 
not yet born, are secrets which it is evident no man or 
angel can penetrate, their causes being indeterminate, 
their relations with other things fluctuating and un- 
known. It follows, therefore, that the prediction of 
such contingent events cannot otherwise than proceed 
from God; and further, since God cannot without a 
violation of his perfect holiness and rectitude, aid 
delusion, the inference is equally cogent and necessary 
that the accomplishment of predictions, delivered by 
those who profess divine authority, amounts to a full 
proof that they really possess the authority they as- 
sume."* Fulfilled prophecy is evidence that is over- 
whelmingly convincing, and cannot be evaded except 
by refusing to consider it. Wherefore, we conclude 
with the apostle Peter, that " The prophecy came not 
in old times by the will of man; but holy men of God 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit ."f 

* Gregory's Letters. f 2 Pet. i: 2L 



100 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



CHAPTER III. 



Conclusive and Irrefragable Proof That the New Tes- 
tament is of Divine Origin. 

"All prophecies are real miracles." — Hume. 

" We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that 
ye take heed." — Peter. 

PROPOSE now to prove conclusively and beyond 
doubt that the New Testament is of divine origin, 
and I shall do so by the same course of reasoning 
pursued with reference to the Old Testament. I 
shall show that the writers thereof foretold events 
long before they occurred, which have transpired ex- 
actly according to the prediction. I could give many 
examples. In fact, one who had not made the subject 
a special study, would be surprised to find that the 
New Testament is to so great an extent a prophetical 
book. It abounds in predictions, like the Old Testa- 
ment, and some of these, like some of those, are at 
the present time in process of fulfillment. Out of the 
many examples that could be given I select three, and 
plant myself firmly upon those three, defying the com- 
bined Infidel world to show that any one of them has 
failed : — 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 101 

FIRST SPECIFICATION. 
Paul's prophecy of the papacy. 

11 Now we beseech you, brethren, by* the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not 
soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, 
nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 

Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not comet 
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be re- 
vealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself 
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as 
God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these 
things ? 

And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in 
his time. 

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now 
letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall 
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the 
brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the 
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and 
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; be- 
cause they received not the love of the truth, that they might be 
saved." — 2 Thessalonians ii: 1-10. 

This prediction is most strikingly fulfilled in the Pa- 
pacy of the Roman Hierarchy. The man of sin is 
evidently the Pope. In the first place, the time of his 
appearing was not a long way off. The seeds of the 
apostasy were already sown, and were sprouting when 
Paul wrote, and the mystery of iniquity would con- 
tinue to work till the sin of man produced the Man of 
Sin. But let us notice it, item by item: — 

* Instead of "by" in the first verse, it should read " concerning," and 
H falling away " in the third verse should read " apostasy." This is the sense 
of the Greek. He besought them not to be soon shaken in mind "concern- 
ing the coming of the Lord," as though he would suddenly appear, for the 
" apostasy," of which he had told them while with them, must of necessity 
come first; and as that would be of long continuance, the second coming of 
Christ could not then be at hand. 



102 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

1st. There was to be a "falling away" or apostasy. 

Now, I inquire, if the union of church and state 
under Constantine, with all the paraphernalia intro- 
duced in the place of the simplicity of the gospel was 
not a falling away, or apostasy? The introduction of 
sacredotal robes, the ringing of bells, the burning of 
candles, the adoration of images, the sale of indul- 
gences, priestly absolution, the substitution of mass 
in the place of the Lord's Supper, and of penance in 
place of repentance, the elevation of the host, the 
change in all the ordinances, together with the in- 
troduction of a thousand frivolous things unknown 
in the New Testament, marks the Eoman Catholic 
Church as distinct from the church known to Peter, 
Paul, and James, and proves it to be an apostasy 
from the truth of Christ as promulgated by the 
apostles. The church of Christ has no rule of 
faith except the writings of apostles and prophets. 
But the Eoman Hierarchy has superadded to these the 
Aprocraphy and one hundred and thirty-five other 
large folio volumes ! These include : The Apostolic 
Fathers, 35 folios ; Decretals, 8 volumes ; Bulls of the 
Popes, 10 volumes ; Canons and Decrees, 31 volumes; 
Acts of Saints, 51 folios. I ask every candid man to 
say whether or not this is an apostasy from the institu- 
tion established by the Judean carpenter, aided by 
fishermen of Gallilee? Or, as I should rather say, by 
the Son of God and his inspired apostles. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 103 

2d. There was some one in the way that hindered the 
manifestation of the Man of Sin, who had first to be 
taken out of the way before that Wicked One should 
make his appearance. 6-8. 

That was evidently the Koman emperor. No pope 
could arise and assume authority and power till the em- 
peror was removed. So Satan had to work secretly 
and keep the mystery of iniquity brewing till he got 
Caesar's successor dethroned, then embrace the oppor- 
tunity and hoist the " son of perdition " to the throne. 
This is no fanciful interpretation gotten up for the oc- 
casion, but it was the understanding of all the early 
fathers before popery was developed. Justin Martyr, 
Origen, Lactantius, Cyril and Jerome all so interpreted 
the passage; and Tertullian, in the Second Century, 
commented on it as follows: " Who can this be but 
the Roman States, the division of which into ten kin£- 
doms will bring on Anti-Christ, and then the Wicked 
One shall be revealed. ,, — The Resurrection, ch. 24. 
Even one of the Roman bishops, Gregory the Great, 
now placed in the calendar as a pope, said, in the Sixth 
Century, if any man affected the title of Universal 
Bishop he was the Anti-Christ. In fact, it was the 
universal belief that the "Man of Sin" was to be a 
dignitary in the church, who should arise and usurp the 
reins of government after the Roman emperor was dis- 
placed, till the " Man of Sin " himself arose and gave 
another interpretation. That Christianity was pure 



104 HAND-BOOK OF CHEISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

and humble before the downfall of the Roman empire, 
is attested by the skeptical historian, Gibbon himself. 
He says : * ' While the great body was invaded by open 
violence or undermined by slow decay, a pure and 
humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds 
of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new 
vigor from opposition, and finally erected the tri- 
umphant banner of the cross on the ruins of the Capi- 
tol I" But after the state was overthrown and the 
emperors vacated the throne of the Caesars the church 
was corrupted, the apostasy was complete, and the 
" son of perdition " appeared a full grown man ! 

3d. He " opposeth and exalteth himself above all that 
is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God 
sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he 
is Godr 

Mark you, it is not said that he should exalt himself 
above God, but " above all that is called God." And 
it is well known that the term is frequently applied to 
kings, rulers and leaders. It is sometimes used in this 
sense in the Bible. And it is a matter of history that 
Alexander the Great claimed to be a god, and ordered 
that divine worship should be paid to him. The Man 
of Sin, then, who is the Pope, not any particular pope, 
but the pope as an officer, was to exalt himself above 
all other rulers, and he has done it. Not only does he 
assume authority over bishops and all ecclesiastical 
rulers, but he exalts himself above and usurps author- 
ity over civil rulers. Pope Gregory VII made King 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 105 

Henry IV wait barefooted at the gate ; Pope Alexander 
III put his foot on the neck of King Frederick I ; 
Pope Celestin lifted the foot that had so often been 
kissed by kings, bishops and princes, and kicked off 
the crown of Henry VI. All the satellites of the Pope 
claim no less than absolute power for him. Molina, 
an eminent Catholic writer, deposeth as follows : — 

"To oblige men to execute his will, he can not only use censures, 
but can employ effective chastisements, such as violence and arms, 
altogether like a temporal prince; although it is better that the 
Pope, instead of executing these punishments himself, should dele- 
gate to this end the secular princes. For this reason it is said that 
the Pope possesses the two swords, supreme spiritual power, and 
supreme temporal power." 

This is but a sample of the many quotations that I 
could make showing that the Pope exalts himself above 
all earthly rulers. He also exalts himself above God 
and his Son, for he makes void the word of God by his 
traditions, separating what God has joined together, 
and joining together what God has left separate; 
abolishing what God has established, and establishing 
what neither God nor his Son have ever sanctioned. 
He exhibits himself as God, pretending to be God, not 
only by changing the laws and ordinances of God, but 
by the arrogant and presumptous titles that he as- 
sumes, such as " Sovereign Pontiff,'' " Holy Father," 
" Universal Patriarch," " Supreme Head," " Suc- 
cessor of Peter," ".Prince of the Apostles," "Vicar 
of Christ," "Infallible One," "Lord of Lords," 
"His Holiness," "Lord God, the Pope!" Arch- 
bishop Purcell made use of some of those titles iij his 



106 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

debate with Alexander Campbell, pages 21, 106, 124 
and 241. The bishop, however, denied that the pope 
was infallible, or that he claimed to be so. He says: 
1 * Is he an infallible? He pretends not verily to be 
so." — page 238. But lo, and behold ! since the bishop 
gave utterance to that sentiment, " his Holiness " has 
assembled the chief dignitaries of the church from all 
parts of the world, and had himself proclaimed infalli- 
ble. Bishop Purcell went all the way from Cincinnati 
to Kome to oppose the dogma, but all with no avail. 
But let us see how the bishops address the Pope: 
" Thou most Holy Lord, thou the Vicar of Christ, the 
Bishop of Bishops, the Supreme Judge of the Faith, 
and Arbiter of all Controversies ; Thou, the Head of 
the Church, the Light of the Nations, let us humbly 
ask thee," etc. — Address of the Galilean Bishops to 
the Pope, appendix, page 595. But let us hear the 
Pope's own organ, the Civilta Catolica, a paper pub- 
lished in Rome, and the very highest authority in the 
church. It says : "The church is God himself, who is 
master and ruler of mankind through a visible organ- 
ism, and of this the head and mouth is the Roinan 
Pontiff." The church, then, is God? Yes. And the 
Pope is the head of the church ? Yes. Then the Pope 
is the head of God? Exactly. No wonder he claims 
the power to abolish the laws of God and change his 
ordinances! In some translations "the wicked" is 
rendered "the lawless one," and surely the Pope is 
the lawless one, assuming the power to set aside both 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 107 

the laws of God and man. Catholic writers frequently 
declare that he is bound by no law, human or divine: 
"Papa facit quiquid libet, etiam illicitae et est plus 
quamDeus; " which, being interpreted, means «« the 
Pope doth whatsoever he pleases, even things unlaw- 
ful, and is more than God." — JewelVs Apology and 
Defence, Newton, page 404. 

4th. " Whose coming is after the working of Satan 
with all power and signs and lying wonders," etc. — 
9 and 10. 

Any one at all familiar with the papal history will 
recognize the truth of this as applied to the Roman 
Pontiff. His works are certainly like the works of 
Satan, if there is any truth in history. Even Bishop 
Purcell admits that there were some bad popes, and 
thinks it probable that they are now roasting in hell 
for their wickedness. In his debate with Alexander 
Campbell, the Reformer, he speaks of the number of 
popes, and adds: " Of these the first forty were saints 
or martyrs, a small number only, not more than 
twenty, can be called bad men." — Page 146. On 
the same page he says that Pope Stephen VI had the 
body of Formosus, another pope, dug up, and cut off 
his fingers, and calls it an unpardonable act. On page 
144 he repeats that there were some bad popes, and on 
page 145 he uses this language: "I should not be 
surprised if these bad popes were, at this moment, ex- 
piating their crimes in the penal fires of hell I " The 
Catholics canonize as saints all those in high station, 



108 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

whom they consider their best and purest men ; but of 
the last fifty popes only one has been canonized ! — 
See Campbell and Purcell Debate, page 154. 

But his coming was also to be "with all power, and 
signs, and lying wonders." Well, he claims all power. 
The great Catholic historian, Du Pin, says that at the 
last Lateran great Synod, one prelate said of the pope: 
"He hath all power above all powers, both of heaven and 
earth. 99 — Du Pin, page 133. In 1585 Pope Sixtus V 
hurled a bull of excommunication against Henry, King 
of Navarre, and the Prince of Conde, beginning as fol- 
lows : " The authority given to St. Peter and his suc- 
cessors, by the immense power of the Eternal King, 
excells all the powers of earthly kings and princes. 
It passes uncontrollable sentence upon them all — and 
if it find any of them resisting God's ordinance, it 
takes more severe vengeance of them, casting them 
down from their thrones, though never so puissant, 
and tumbling them down to the lowest parts of the 
earth, as the mi if ters of aspiring Lucifer.' ' In 1570, 
Pope Pius V thundered a similar anathema against the 
queen of England. — Comp. Hist., anno. 1570. To 
show the spirit of the papacy, and the wonderful 
assumption of bishops under the dominion of the 
Pope, I call attention to a bull of the Bishop of Phila- 
delphia against a refractory priest, named Wm. Hogan, 
rector of St. Mary's church, Philadelphia. It is as 
follows : — 

"By the authority of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, and the undented Virgin Mary, mother and patroness of our 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 109 

Savior, and of all celestial virtues, Angels, Archangels, Thrones, 
Dominions, Powers, Cherubims and Seraphims ; and of all the Holy 
Patriarchs, Prophets, and of all the Apostles, and Evangelists of the 
Holy Innocents, who, in the sight of the Holy Lamb, are found 
worthy to sing the new song of the Holy Martyrs and Holy Confess- 
ors, and of all the Holy Virgins, and of all Saints, together with 
the Holy Elect of God — may he, William Hogan, be damned. 

We excommunicate and anathematize him, and from the threshold 
of the Holy Church of Almighty God, we sequester him, that he may 
be tormented, disposed and be delivered over with Athan and 
Abiram, and with those who say unto the Lord,* 'depart from us, 
for we desire none of thy ways;' as a fire is quenched with water, 
so let the light of him be put out forevermore, unless it shall repent 
him and make satisfaction. Amen! 

May the Father, who created man, curse him ! May the Son, who 
suffered for us, curse him ! May the Holy Ghost, who suffered for 
us in baptism, curse him! May the Holy Cross, which Christ 
ascended, curse him! 

May the Holy and Eternal Virgin Mary, Mother of God, curse 
him! May St. Michael, the advocate of the Holy Souls, curse him! 
May all the angels, principalities and powers, and all heavenly 
armies, curse him ! May the praise-worthy multitude of Patriarchs 
and Prophets curse him! 

May St. John, the Precursor, and St. John, the Baptist, and St. 
Peter and St. Paul, and St. Andrew, and all other of Christ's Apos- 
tles together, curse him! And may the rest of our Disciples and 
Evangelists, who, by their preaching, converted the universe, and 
the Holy and wonderful company of Martyrs and Confessors, who, 
by their holy works, are found pleasing to God Almighty. May the 
holy choir of the Holy Virgins, who, for the honor of Christ, have 
despised the things of the world, damn him! May all the saints 
from the beginning of the world to everlasting ages, who are 
found to be beloved of God, damn him ! 

May he be damned wherever he be, whether in the house or in 
the stable, the garden or the field, or the highways; or in the woods, 
or in the waters, or in the church ; may he be cursed in living and 
in dying! 

May he be cursed in eating and in drinking, in being hungry, in 
being thirsty, in fasting, in sleeping, in slumbering, and in sitting, 
in living, in working, in resting and blood letting! 

May he be cursed in all the faculties of his body! 

May he be cursed inwardly and outwardly; may he be cursed in 
his brain, and in his vertex, in his temples, in his eyebrows, in his 
cheeks, in his jaw-bones, in his nostrils, in his teeth and grinders, 
in his lips, in his throat, in his shoulders, in his arms, in his fingers. 

May he be damned in his mouth, in his breasts, in his heart and 
purtenances, down to the very stomach ! 



110 HAND-BOOK OF CHEISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

May he be cursed in his reins and in his groins ; in his thighs, in 
his genitals and in his hips, his knees, and legs, and feet, and toe- 
nails ! 

May he be cursed in all his joints, and articulation of the mem- 
bers ; from the crown of his head to- the sole of his feet, may there 
be no soundness. 

May the Son of the living God, with all the glory of his majesty, 
curse him! And may heaven, with all the powers that move 
therein, rise up against him and curse and damn him; unless he 
repent and make satisfaction ! 

Amen. So be it. Be it so. Amen." * 

This is a sample of the one hundred anathemas 
commanded by the council of Trent. — See Gamp- 
bell and Purcell, Deb., page 331. 

But, now for a few samples of the " lying wonders and 
signs." It is well known that the mother of Constan- 
tine went to Jerusalem and pretended to find the true 
cross, and travellers tell us that in Catholic States in 
the Old World, enough pieces of the true cross are ex- 
hibited to make many crosses, and still have material 
left! 

But as I like to have everything advanced, well 
backed by authorities, I submit a few precious little 
items from ecclesiastical history. I first quote from 
Waddington who says : — 

"The Empress Constantia, who was building a church at Con- 
stantinople to St. Paul, made application to Gregory for the head of 
that apostle, or, at least for some portion of his body. The Pope 



* I like the sentiments of A. Pope better than those of the pope, when he 
says: 

" Let not this weak, unknowing hand, 

Presume thy bolts to tbrow, 
And deal damnation round the land 
On each I judge thy foe? " 

—Universal Pkateb. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. Ill 

begins his answer by a very polite expression of his sorrow ' that he 
neither could nor dared to grant that favor ; for the bodies of the 
holy apostles, Peter and Paul, are so resplendent with miracles aud 
terrific prodigies in their own churches, that no one can approach 
them without great awe, even for the purpose of adoring them. 
When my predecessor, of happy memory, wished to change some 
silver armament which was placed over the most holy body of St. 
Peter, though at a distance of almost fifteen feet, a warning of no 
small terror appeared to him. Even I myself wished to make some 
alteration near the most holy body of St. Paul, and it was necessary 
to dig rather deeply near his tomb. The superior of the place found 
some bones which were not at all connected with that tomb ; and 
having presumed to disturb and remove them to some other place, 
he was visited by certain fearful apparitions, and died suddenly. 
My predecessor of holy memory, also undertook to make some re- 
pairs near the tomb of St. Laurence ; as they were digging, without 
knowing precisely where the venerable body was placed, they hap- 
pened to open his sepulchre. The monks and guardians who were 
at the work, only because they had seen the body of that martyr, 
though they did not presume so much as to touch it, all died within 
ten days ; to the end that no man might remain in life who had 
beheld the body of that just man. Be it then known to you, that it 
is the custom of the Romans, when they give any relics, not to ven- 
ture to touch any portion of the body; only they put into a box a 
piece of linen (called brandeum), which is placed near the holy 
bodies ; then it is withdrawn and shut up with due veneration in 
the church which is to be dedicated, and as many prodigies are then 
wrought by it, as if the bodies themselves had been carried thither; 
whence it happened that in the time of St. Leo (as we learn from 
our ancestors) when some Greeks doubted the virtue of such relics, 
that the Pope called for a pair of scissors and cut the linen, and 
blood flowed from the incision. And not at Rome only, but through 
the whole of the West, it is held sacrilegious to touch the bodies of 
the saints, nor does such temerity ever remain unpunished. For 
which reason we are much astonished at the custom of the Greeks 
to take away the bones of the saints, and we scarcely give credit to 
it. But what shall I say respecting the bodies of the holy apostles, 
when it is a known fact that at the time of their martyrdom, a num- 
ber of the faithful came from the East to claim them? But when 
they had carried them out of the city to the second milestone, to a 
place called the catacombs, the whole multitude was unable to move 
them farther — such a tempest of thunder and lightning terrified 
and dispersed them. 

The napkin, too, which you wished to be sent at the same time, 
is with the body and cannot be touched more than the body can be 
approached. But that your religious desire may not be wholly frus- 
trated, I will hasten to send you some part of those chains which 



112 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

St. Paul wore on the neck and hands, if, indeed, I shall succeed in 
getting off any filings from them. For since many continually 
solicit as a blessing that they may carry off from those chains some 
small portion of their filings, a priest stands by with a file; and some- 
times it happens that some portions fall off from the chains in- 
stantly and without delay; while at other times the file is long 
drawn over the chains, and yet nothing is at last scraped off from 
them." — Wad. Ch. Hist., pages 140 and 141. 

Gibbon bears testimony to the very same " lying 

wonders " when he says: — 

" Like Thebes, or Babylon, or Carthage, Borne might have been 
erased from the earth, if the city had not been animated by a vital 
principle which again restored her to honor and dominion. A vague 
tradition was embraced that two Jewish teachers, a tent-maker and 
a fisherman, had formerly been executed in the circus of Nero, and 
at the end of five hundred years their genuine or fictitious relics 
were adored as the palladium of Christian Rome." — Decline and 
Fall of Roman Empire, vol. 8, page 161. 

Another " lying wonder,' ' which could with equal 
propriety be called a wonderful lie, is the Infallibility 
Dogma. Pope Adrian VI did unequivocally deny the 
Pope's infallibility. If right, the Pope is not infalli- 
ble, for he avows that he is not. If wrong, the Pope 
is not infallible, for he was a pope and yet erred. 
And yet, for all that, the last (Ecumenical Council had 
the audacity to proclaim the Pope infallible. 

I pass over two of the most hideous marks of the 
"Son of Perdition," the Inquisition and the sale of 
indulgences, for want of space, and because the latter 
has been modified and the former has been numbered 
among the things that were. 

5th. " With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in 
them that perish ; because they received not the love of 
the truth, that they might be saved." 10. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 113 

Iii 1762 the Parliament of France abolished the 

Pope's society called the Jesuits. They give their 

reasons for their extirpation as follows : — 

11 The consequences of their doctrines destroy the law of nature; 
break all the bonds of civil society; authorizing lying, theft, per- 
jury, the utmost uncleanness, murder, and all sins ! Their doctrines 
root out all sentiments of humanity; excite rebellion ; root out all 
religion ; and substitute all sorts of superstition, blasphemy, irre- 
ligion, idolatry." 

The order of Parliament, from which the above 
extract is made, has been proscribed thirty-nine times ! 

So great is the deceivableness of unrighteousness 
that the Roman Pontiff even makes his dupes believe 
that he has the power to annul any oath that they may 
have taken, thus inducing and fostering perjury ! I 
could cite many authorities to prove this, but will 
merely quote the principle as laid down with care and 
conciseness by " His Holiness, Lord God Pope Gregory 
IX: " " Be it known to all who are under the domin- 
ion of heretics, that they are set free from every tie of 
fidelity and duty to them, all oaths or solemn agreement 
to the contrary notwithstanding." — Decretals of Greg- 
ory, lib. 5, tit. 7. This is in accordance with the 
principle enunciated by the Third Council of Lateran : 
" They are not to be called oaths, but perjuries, that 
are taken against the interests of the church and the 
holy fathers." — Con. Lat. Ill, vol x, p. 1517. 

So great is the deception, and so strong is the delu- 
sion that enclouds the minds of those that believed not 
the truth, but found pleasure in accepting the un- 
righteous papacy, that they even believe that the bread 
8 



114 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

and wine in the Eucharist are actually converted into 

the literal body and blood of Jesus as soon as the 

priest has pronounced the words: "Hoc est corpus 

meum." On this subject the creed of Pope Pius IV 

deposeth as follows : — 

" I do also profess that in the mass there is offered unto God a 
true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead; 
and that, in the most holy sacrament of the holy Eucharist, there is 
truly, really and substantially the body and blood, together with 
the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there is a con- 
version made of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and 
of the whole substance of the wine into the blood ; which conver- 
sion the holy Catholic Church calls transubstantiation." — Arti- 
cle XVI. 

It is very evident from the foregoing facts that the 
prediction of the Apostle has been fulfilled in every 
particular, except one, and the time for its accomplish- 
ment has not yet come, but is approaching : 

6th. " Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit 
of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of 
his coming!" 

Here we see that Christ was to consume the " Man 
of Sin " with the spirit of his mouth, which is his word, 
and finally destroy him with the brightness of his com- 
ing. Well, since the days of the illustrious Luther, 
the word of the Lord has gradually consumed popery, 
in so much so that the sale of indulgencies has in a 
meausure ceased, and the fires of the Inquisition have 
been extinguished. The Pope has lost his temporal 
power, and is slowly but surely losing his spiritual 
dominion.* No one can object that the one remaining 

* It is worthy of remark that quite a number of Catholics in Europe and 
America have renounced the Pope; and I rejoice to know it, for there are 
many excellent people among them. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 115 

item has not yet been fulfilled, for the time for its ac- 
complishment has not yet arrived. But "the Lord 
will come, and will not tarry,' ' and in view of the 
minute fulfillment of the other particulars, we may 
rest assured that the Lord will utterly destroy the last 
vestige of the papacy " with the brightness of his 
coming ! " 

Here, then, is one case of New Testament prophecy 
well attested by the facts of history. I proceed to the 



SECOND SPECIFICATION. 
paul's prophecy concerning modern spiritualism. 

" Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some 
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doc- 
trines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their con- 
science seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry and commanding 
to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with 
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." — 1 
Timothy, iv:1-3. 

This manifestly refers to modern Spiritualism. It 
was a long time before the prediction was fulfilled. 
Commentators began to look for the institution so 
graphically described here, but found it not. Some of 
them applied it to the Roman Catholics, because a few 
of the items are applicable to them. But let us give 
the Catholics their due. Not everything bad can be 
saddled upon them. There are at least two particulars 
that can not possibly apply to the Catholics. Catho- 
licism did not arise in the latter times. We have seen 



116 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

that that was an early apostasy — the mystery of ini- 
quity was at work when Paul wrote. The institution 
here foretold was to oppose marriage. Catholicism 
does not. While the Pope and priests abstain from 
matrimonial pleasures themselves, they nevertheless 
look upon marriage as a holy and divine institution, 
and solemnize it whenever called upon to do so. For 
a long time there was no fulfilment. Finally the 
latter times came — the line of demarkation between 
ancient and modern times was crossed — and the Fox 
girls began tipping and rapping tables. Well, that 
was an insignificant affair. There was a little curiosity 
excited, but it was confined to their own narrow circle 
of acquaintances. It didn't amount to much. But 
mind the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines 
while the vines have tender grapes ! The Foxes 
formed circles, and kept on tipping, knocking and 
rapping. The contagion began to spread. Persons in 
other districts formed circles and developed mediums ; 
then in other States; then in other nations; then 
throughout the world. It soon assumed a religious 
aspect. Conventions assembled, papers were started, 
and books published, setting forth new and startling 
principles. And now Spiritualism stands before the 
world the living embodiment of the erroneous prin- 
ciples that the apostle forewarned the disciples should 
come. I shall take up the prediction, item by item, 
and show that in the aforesaid institution it is com- 
pletely and strikingly fulfilled. The apostle enumcr- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 117 

ates seven particular characteristics that were to mark 
this " apostasy of the latter times." 

1st. Itivas to be of modern origin — " in the latter 
times." Verse 1. 

We are now in the latter times. We speak of " an- 
cient and modern times," of " ancient and modern his- 
tory," and a sect has lately arisen calling themselves 
''Latter Day Saints." This is evidently the period 
looked forwarded to by Paul as the " latter times " — 
the most appropriate designation when spoken of by the 
ancients, but when spoken of by us, who live in this 
period, it is more appropriately called "modern times." 
The apostle, then, had the prophetic foresight to see 
that there would be such a division of time, as well as 
to see what would transpire when that period arrived. 

Spiritualism arose " in the latter times," for it ori- 
ginated, in Rochester, New York, not over thirty years 
since. The Spiritualists designate it as "Modern 
Spiritualism," call it the "New Gospel," and pride 
themselves on the fact that it is a modern institution. 
A. J. Davis, the chief apostle of the system, says : — 

" Nor am I impressed to connect the spiritual manifestations of 
this age with 'any occurrences of an analogous complexion and char- 
acter which may have been developed in ages past." — Phil, of Sp. 
Intercourse, page 14. 

"The miracles and spiritual disclosures of this era flow naturally 
md consequently from the state of mental and moral development to 
vhich the Anglo-Saxon portion of the human race has generally 
ttained." — Ibid., page 18. 

2d. "Shall depart from the faith." 

That Spiritualists in general have departed from the 

" faith once delivered to the saints," and that the sys- 



118 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

tern is diametrically and irreconcilably opposed to the 
Gospel of Christ and all that Christians hold most 
dear, is well known. They do not altogether deny the 
fact, but boast that they discard faith. E. V. Wilson, 
one of their shining lights, who published a book 
in favor of Spiritualism, says : " Truly, our religion is 
a religion of knowledge, and not a religion of 
faith." — Truths of Spiritualism, page 158. Then 
when asked whether he accepts God and Christ, he re- 
plies: " If you mean the Hebraic God and his Christ, 
in the sense they are taught, I certainly reject them 
both." — Ibid., page 240. On page 116, he denies 
the authenticity of the Bible, and says "that Christ 
was a disembodied spirit controlling Jesus as a me- 
dium." On page 56 he says: *" Moses and Elias was 
the familiar spirit of Jesus, and Elias of John the 
Baptist, and Jesus of Nazareth became the familiar of 
Paul." You see, he denies the faith and comes out a 
bald Atheist. On page 142, he exclaims: " Thanks to 
the All-Father and the dear old Mother God!" On 
the same page he says : ' ' Mary to our home re- 
turned — we to the work of the Gods." He offered 
to affirm the following proposition : ' * That the Chris- 
tian religion, as taught, had its conception and birth in 
evil, and that the serpent of Genesis is really the 
founder of your Christianity, he foreseeing the neces- 
sity for a redeemer." — Truths of Spiritualism, page 
321. 

* This is a verbatim quotation. Mr. Wilson is responsible lor the gram- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 119 

Dr. T. L. Nichols, a distinguished Spiritualist, when 
speaking of the mission of Spiritualism, says: — 

" Spiritualism meets, neutralizes and destroys Christianity. A 
Spiritualist is no longer a Christian in any popular sense of the 
term. Advanced spirits do not teach * * * the atonement of 
Christ; nothing of the kind." — Nichols' Monthly Magazine of Social 
Science and Progressive Literature, for November, 1854, page 66. 

Capt. H. H. Brown, of Michigan, one of their finest 
orators, in a debate with the author of this work, at 
Denison, Texas, affirmed, " that the Bible is false in 
fact and of human origin.' ' In that discussion I ad- 
vanced the same argument that I am now making to 
prove the Bible of divine origin, and Capt. Brown was 
unable to make any reply whatever. 

In the testimony of a spirit given in the Banner of 
Light, Nov. 23, 1861, it is said: — 

" Many times before we have said that we cannot place implicit 
confidence in that which we find beneath the lids of the Bible.'* 

In the Educator, a book of 680 octavo pages, pro- 
fessing to come from the spirits of such men as Daniel 
Webster, John Quincy Adams, Martin Luther, etc., 
we find such stuff as this : — 

"The being called God exists, organically, in the form of the 
being called man." — Educator, page 303. 

Says another spirit : — 

" Every one of you are Gods manifest in the flesh." " The 
divine existence is one grand universal man." " Man is God's em- 
bodiment — his highest, divinest, outer elaboration. God, then, is 
man, and man is God." — Educator, page 526. 

Mr. T. L. Harris, a leading man among them, 
preached a sermon in London on the teachings of 



120 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Spiritualists, in which, in summing up their general 
belief, he said: — 

" First, that Nature is God. Second, that God is an undeveloped 
principle in process of evolution. Third, that the Jehovah of the 
Bible was an unprogressed, ferocious human Spirit, who deceived 
ancient media. Fourth, that the Lord Christ was but a natural 
man, possessed of the ordinary mediumistic faculty of spiritual 
clairvoyance. Fifth, that our Lord's theological and psychical 
teachings were but the reproduction of false mythologies. Sixth, 
that he held his power, great or little, because under the influence 
of spirits of departed men. 

" Shall we go further in this catalogue? We open, then, another 
series of spiritual teachings. First, that all things originate in 
nature. Second, that man is a development of the animal. Third, 
that the first parents of the human race, born of brutes, were them- 
selves but savages of the most degraded type. Fourth, that all 
things and beings are governed by natural necessity; that man pos- 
sesses no freedom in the moral will. Fifth, that there is no retro- 
gression, through moral disorders, either of the individual or of the 
species. Sixth, that vice is virtue in its unprogressive or germinal 
condition; that sin is an impossible chimera. Seventh, that self- 
love is the very centre and fountain-head of all human affections, 
the chief inspirer of all human or spiritual actions. Eighth, that 
the spiritual world is but a theatre for the continued evolution of 
human spirits, under the perpetual forces of nature working through 
self-love. 

" Or again, turn to another series: First, that the Scriptures are 
not the word of God, and that the Divine Spirit never vouchsafed 
utterance to man. Second, that the Messiah, our Redeemer, is not, 
in any sense, a Savior of the soul from- sin, death and hell. Third, 
that he never met in combat oar spiritual foe; that he never over- 
came or cast out destroying spirits from their human slaves ; that 
he never made an atonement or expiation for sin; that he never 
rose in his reassumed humanity from the grave ; that he never as- 
cended glorified to* heaven; that he never communicated the Holy 
Ghost.'' 

I might go on and give quotations ad infinitum to 
show that they deny the faith; but it is unnecessary, 
it is too plain a case. 

3d. "Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines 
of devils ." — Verse 1. 

Instead of" devils," some render it " demons." 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 121 

Now this is fulfilled to the letter. They not only 
give heed to spirits, but seducing spirits. Those spirits 
deceive them and seduce them from their faith in God, 
their loyalty to Christ, and allure them from the paths 
of virtue and holiness. Dr. Wm. B. Potter, for many 
years a medium, published a work dated June 7, 1866. 
When speaking of " Spiritualism as it is," he says: — 

" Spiritual literature is full of the most insiduous and seductive 
doctrines, calculated to undermine the very foundations of morality 
and virtue, and lead to the most unbridled licentiousness." — Facts, 
Fancies and Follies of tip. Explained. 

Dr. P. B. Randolph, a noted Spiritualistic lecturer, 
withdrew from them in 1858, and in a sermon re- 
nouncing the system, delivered in New York, Nov. 
21st, 1858, and published in the Tribune, he says : — 

"For seven years I held daily intercourse with what purported to 
be my mother's spirit. lam now firmly persuaded that it was nothing 
but an evil spirit and infernal demon, who in that guise gained my souVs 
confidence, and lead me to the very brink of ruin. * * * Five of 
my friends destroyed themselves, and I attempted it by direct spir- 
itual influences. Every crime in the calendar has been committed 
by mortals moved by viewless beings ! Adultery, fornication, sui- 
cides," etc. 

The same gentleman, in an article in the Banner of 
Light, a leading Spiritualist journal, writes as fol- 
lows : — 

"I have a volume of sixty closely written pages, of names of 
those who have been drawn down from respectability, morality, 
wealth and intelligence, to the filth of free love, poverty, and to in- 
sanity itself. 

"Spiritualism is a synonym of all falsities and lies; a cloak for 
all kinds of crimes — adultery, murder and lust; it weakens man's 
intellect and individuality; changes his worship of God to a wor- 
ship of ghosts.'* 



122 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

S. B. Brittan, editor of the Spiritual Telegraph, 
admits that thousands of the devotees of Spiritualism 
"have been led astray by fancy and fanaticism!" — 
Richmond and Brittan Debate, page 147. 

Another evidence of the seductive influence of 
" those spirits," showing that they are seducing spirits, 
is the fact that they dethrone the reason of so many 
persons and lead them to insanity. It is well known 
that Kobert Dale Owen, one of the shining lights of 
Spiritism, became deranged but a few years since, in 
consequence of the Katie King fraud. And I could 
give many recent instances, but I will cite a few cases 
from the early history of the delusion, to show that 
the tendency to insanity has marked it at every step : 
George Doughty, of Flushing, Long Island, reported 
in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, of Feb. 25, 1852; Or- 
ville Hatch, of Franklin, Conn., N~. Y. Times, Aug. 
20th, 1852 ; Miss Melissa Haynes, of Cincinnati, Cin. 
Times; the same year a lady from the country, and a 
young Irishman, St. Louis Republican; Robert G. 
Shaw, wealthy merchant of Boston, Beloit Journal, 
Feb. 10, 1853 ; Adeline C. Moore, Boston, Boston 
Herald, 1853; Samuel Cole, a medium of Washing- 
ton county, Ohio, Philadelphia Register, Feb. 28th, 
1853 ; Bishop Peabody, Grafton, Ohio, committed sui- 
cide, Cleveland Herald; Mrs. Eich, died at Kirtland, 
Ohio, under the influence of mediums, Feb. 23, 1853, 
Geouga (0.) Republic; S. W. Lincoln, Franklin 
county, N. Y., Malone Jeffersonian and N. Y. Times; 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 123 

Matthew Langdon, printer, committed suicide, IT. Y. 
Times, Jan. 8, 1853. About that time the Superin- 
tendent of the Indianapolis Lunatic Asylum, in his 
report said: "A new cause of insanity has, within a 
recent period, been developed. * * * Eighteen 
have been added to the number of our inmates, during 
the year, from the so-called " spiritual Tappings." 
Later, the report of the Ohio Asylum speaking of 
the " causes of insanity," says: "Among these, 
nothing is more worthy of notice than the large and 
rapidly increasing number caused by the present pop- 
ular delusion, ' spirit Tappings.' " 

Quite recently an able Presbyterian minister, John 
Marples, Toronto, Canada, was lead into Spiritualism, 
and died insane. Before his fall he debated with B. F. 
Underwood. 

I clip the following from a secular paper : — 

"Tom Thumb, the diminutive general, is a Spiritualist, and has 
contributed $1,000 for the assistance of the medium, Charles H. 
Foster, who is now a mental wreck, in the institution for the insane, 
at Salem, Mass." 

Mr. E. V. Wilson, "the seer," gives an account of 
the spirit of an insane woman remaining insane after 
death, and through whose influence a Mr. Carlton was 
killed. And he represents the spirit of the murdered 
man as coming up and saying that he was well pleased 
that the spirits had killed him. — See Truths of Spirit- 
ualism, chap. 38. If sanctioning murder is not a doc- 
trine of devils, I don't know what could be. But, 
some one may say, "Well, the spirits and mediums 



124 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

give some good advice." Yes, all seducers give some 
good advice. They give good advice in order to gain 
confidence, so as to deceive and lead to ruin. That is 
well illustrated by the following incident related by 
Miles Grant : — 

"We were acquainted with a devoted Christian woman in South 
Boston, who was persuaded to attend a Spiritualist circle in com- 
pany with several other professors of religion. The spirit requested 
them to read the Scriptures, which they did. This led them to 
believe that a good spirit had come. They were then desired to 
pray. They had no further doubts but that the spirit of a Christian 
was visiting them, and giving good instruction. Accordingly, they 
went again and again. When the seducing spirit had fully gained 
their confidence, so that they believed all he said, he then endeav- 
ored to convince them that some portions of the Bible were not 
reliable. He continued his infidel objections till she, who was a 
devoted disciple of Jesus when she first visited the circle, became a 
medium, and laid her Bible away as of little or no value." — Spirit- 
ualism Unveiled. 

Many such instances might be given, showing how 
Spiritism leads its dupes, step by step, till they are so 
entangled in its meshes that they cannot escape. " But 
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, 
deceiving and being deceived." — 2 Tim. iii : 13. 

4th. " Speaking lies in hypocrisy \" — Verse 2. 

It is an easy matter to demonstrate that modern 
Spiritism is characterized by lies, hypocrisy, false- 
hood, and deception. Joel Tiffany, a well-known 
Spiritualist, who once debated with Eld. Isaac Errett, 
says : — 

"After all of our investigations for seven or eight years, we must 
say that we have as much evidence that they are lying spirits as we 
have that there are any spirits at all. * * * The doc- 
trines they teach * * * are mostly contradictory and 
absurd." — Spiritualism Unveiled, page 100. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 125 

The spirits frequently lie by represent! ng themselves 
to be the spirit of one, when, in reality, they are the 
spirit of another. My readers are familiar with the 
well known Philadelphia case. One of those celestial 
visitors claimed to be the materialized spirit of Katie 
King. She allowed some of the men to kiss her, and 
one smelled her breath, and found she had been eating 
onions. This led to detection, whereupon it was found 
that it was the spirit of a young widow named White — 
a spirit which had not yet left " the form." 

The Religio-Philosophical Journal, of May 19th, 
1877, says: "The spirit world is a counterpart of 
this. There are rogues there as well as here." The 
same paper, in an article headed " Spirit Communica- 
tions — Their Keliability, ,, says: " There may exist 
within a spirit the same tendency to deceive, that we 
find existing with some persons here." The same 
paper says: "T. Starr King asserted publicly through 
a medium a short time since, that on that occasion was 
the first time he ever communicated. How about the 
other * T. Starr Kings? ' Somebody lies." The same 
paper says : "Impostors, too, are prevalent in Cal- 
ifornia; two attempted to perform the flower test, but 
were exposed." And that reminds me that Mrs. 
Elridge performed that trick in Sherman, Texas, and 
the flowers produced were grasshopper bitten ! Capt. 
H. H. Brown writes : " The jugglers of India, China, 
Japan, Persia, and Ceylon, accomplish more wonderful 
feats than our mediums do, and they obtain the power 



126 



HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



by a system of training." — Religio-Phil. Journal, 
May 19th, 1877. 

Joel Tiffany, in his debate with Mr. Mahan, in 
Cleveland, admitted that the phenomena were " full of 
contradictions, absurdity and puerility.' ' — Page 34. 
It is also a fact that their teachings abound in contra- 
dictions, as the following list will show :* — 



In the beginning the Univercoelum 
was one boundless, undeflnable and 
unimaginable ocean of liquid 
fire.— Rev., 120. 

Jesus, in all the organic essentials 
of his spiritual nature was a woman; 
a good, simple-minded, truth -feeling, 
truth loving soul. —Present Age, 35. 



The teachings of Christ are re- 
jected as imperfect, injurious, and 
trifling. — See Present Age, 24; Sp. 
Teacher, 42-44; Courtney's Review of 
Dods, p. 70, for specimens. 

Holy Ghost is defined to mean 
Excellent Laws. — Harmon, ii, 812, 



Nature and her laws, created by 
God.— Ed.i,M0. 



There are three primary spheres 
in the universe. — Tiff, and Mahan 
Deb., 54. 

Supernal Theology says the 
seventh sphere is about four thou- 
sand miles from the earth. —75. 



Before the beginning of the crea- 
tion of the heavens and the earth, 
matter was void of form, and dark- 
ness prevailed. — Koons, 41 . 

Christ professed to have come 
directly from the bosom of the 
Father, where Mr. Davis could not 
live a moment; and all good angels 
with whom I ever conversed, believe 
he did thus come.— Gridley, 137. 

All this is flatly contradicted by 
Edmonds, ii, 58, 59; and Ballad, 9. 

The Holy Ghost is declared to be 
the lawful wife of God Almighty. — 
Gridley, 153. 

God no more created Nature and 
her laws than they created him.— 
Harm., ii, 348. 

The Mountain Cove Journal says 
there are four. 

Ballou says there are seven." 
216. 

Mr. Gridley makes the first circle 
five thousand miles from the earth, 
and the sixth circle thirty thousand 
miles. 

Ambler makes the first sphere, but 
one hundred miles from the earth.— 
Teacher, 58. 



* This list was compiled by Isaac Errett, and published in a pamphlet en- 
titled, " Spiritualism Self -Condemned."— Pages 21, 22, 23. This tract should 
be read by every one. Standard Publishing Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. Price 6 
cents. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 



12? 



No evil spirits, no devil, no hell.— 
Sp.Int., 87; Pres. Age, 220 and 240; 
Teacher, 116. 



No gratification of evil desires in 
the spirit- world. — Sp. Int., 75. 

No deterioration there. — Ham- 
mond, 100, 103; Ambler, 74. 

All happy— no discord.— Ambler, 
74. 

Indians in the second sphere.— 
Harm, ii, 162. 

Spirits have material food. — 
Harm., i, 69, 70; Ed., i, 175, and ii, 
140. 

Spirits travel faster than elec- 
tricity.— Sp. Int., 31; Ed., i, 169. 

Spirits not deformed by acci- 
dent.— Harm., i, 171. 



Spirits cannot pass through solid 
substances. — <S/). Int., 125, 133, HI. 

Instance given of a spirit shut in 
a sepulcher. — Ibid. 136, 131. 



Tiffany declares that verbal 
prayer is idolatrous and false. — 
Tiff, and Erreit Deb., 44. 



The devil described.— Ed., ii, 
243. 

Hosts of evil spirits. —Ed., K, 242; 
Gridley, 18-28. 

Distance to hell.— Gridley, 96. 

Number of the damned. —Ibid, 99. 

Gridley, 27 and 129; Edmonds, ii, 
182 and 522; and Hammond, 100, era 
piratically contradict this. 

This denied. — Ed., ii, 184, 185, 
206; Gridley, 89, 90. 

The contrary affirmed by Edmonds, 
ii, 183, 344, 348, 518. 

Denied by Hammond. — Light, 



101. 



Denied. — Ballou, 210. 



Gridley says they travel from 
sixty to one hundred miles per sec- 
ond.— 54. 

An account of one who had his 
spiritual head mashed. — Gridley, 51. 
And of another badly troubled with 
spiritual dysentery ! — Ibid. 

Brittan's statement of one that 
went into and came out of a locked 
trunk. — Brittanand Richmond's Dis- 
cussion, p. 195. See also Ed., i, 444, 
445, 449; Ballou, 212; Gridley, 54; 
Mahan and Tif. Debate, 30. 

Edmonds, Dexter Harris, Fergu- 
son, etc., etc., etc., use written or ex- 
tempore prayers, and often publish 
them as being dictated by the spirits. 



Of course, where there are so many contradictions 
there must be some lies; so they are " speaking lies in 
hypocrisy." No wonder their chief apostle, A. J. 
Davis, pens the following: — 

" The spiritual manifestations will come to a crisis very soon, 
and be rejected in totoiov their worthlessness and transcendent ab- 
surdity, unless media and Spiritualists generally consent to conduct 
themselves more in harmony with a comprehensive reason, and the 
principles of a universally applicable philosophy." — Davis 1 * Pres. 
Age, 134. 



128 



HAND-BOOK OP CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



On page 197, of the same work, we have the follow- 
ing:— 



TABLE OF EXPLANATIONS. 



Causes of the 
Phenomena. 

1. Voluntary Deception 

2. Neurological . . 

3. Vital Electricity . 

4. Nervo -psychology 

5. Cerebro- sympathy 

6. Clairvoyance . . 

7. Departed Spirits . 



Proportion or 

Percentage. 

6 

5 

10 

15 

16 

8 

40 



Number of 

Believers. 

100,000 

50,000 

80,000 

50,000 

86,000 

20,000 

260,000 



Effect upon the 
believing mind. 

Impatience. 

Sadness. 

Presumption. 

Skepticism. 

Confusion. 

Investigation. 

Elevation. 



Only two-fifths of the phenomena claimed to be 
genuine spirits ; the other three-fifths admitted to be 
spurious ! "Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus! " 

On page 149, of his book, E. V. Wilson compli- 
ments the Spiritualists of Fennville, and some other 
places in Michigan, as honest and truthful, as much as 
to say that Spiritualists are not generally so. On 
page 377, he speaks of a Mrs. Weaver, and says : 
"At various times and in sundry places, money in coin 
and paper, in various sums, have been brought her by 
her controlling Spirit." That may be true, provided 
her controlling spirit has not yet " left the form ! " 
On pages 378-9, he gives an account of a spirit who 
extracted $4.00 from a desk, and carried it two miles 
through the air ! "Gentle Wilson,'' don't think me 
incredulous, when I say I doubt it. Mr. Wilson tells 
a great many big stories about what he saw, and what 
he did, and gives a great many names and dates to im- 
press the reader with his veracity. On page 123 he 
boasts of his canister and boom shells, charged with 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 129 

names, dates, etc. And generally, he is cautious to 
make these dates correspond, but sometimes he misses 
it. On page 183, he says: — 

"Lecturing in Dannville, N. Y., on Monday evening, January 
25th, I860, we saw and described as follows: "First. We see by 
the side of this man a Spirit. In life he was a soldier: [describing 
him fully] he is your cousin, or nephew, and was killed in 1863." 

He was killed, it appears, just three years after his 
spirit was seen and described by Mr. Wilson ! But 
Spiritualists may say: " O, Mr. Wilson was not one 
of our first-class men, — why don't you show that 
Andrew Jackson Davis lies?" I answer, Mr. Davis 
does even falsify the facts of history. In a book 
called "Divine Revelations,' ' he declares that the 
Evangelists "have not, in all their writings, intimated 
that miracles were designed as a confirmation of 
Christ's mission, nor do they represent him as ever 
making any such declaration." — Rev. 507. 

Now let the reader turn to the following passages of 
Scripture, and read: Matt. ix:6; xi:l-6; John xi : 
15; v:36; x:37, 38; xv : 24, and xx : 30, 31. 

Once more : Mr. Davis declares that the Council of 
Nice was constituted of two thousand and forty-eight 
bishops, who were assembled to settle the sacred canon. 
On account of their violent conduct Constantine was 
obliged to disqualify seventeen hundred and thirty 
from having a voice in deciding which books were and 
which were not the Word of God. That the three 
hundred and eighteen left, kept but four, out of fifty 
gospels then extant, and rejected entirely James, Jude, 



130 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

^nd the Apocalypse. The rejected manuscripts were 
given to the flames. See Divine Rev., 547, 548. 

Now, to use the strong language of Mr. Errett, we 
have simply to say, in reply to all these statements, 
that they are unmitigated falsehoods. No such num- 
ber of bishops belonged to the Council of Nice ; . no 
such number was cast out by Constantine ; there was 
no settlement of the question of the Scriptural canon 
by that Council, and no burning of manuscripts of 
Gospels. 

These are matters of historical record ; and when 
we find the great seer thus recklesslying falsifying 
historical documents, who can trust him when he pre- 
sumes to tell the mysteries of other spheres? — 
Spiritualism 8 elf -Condemned, page 25. 

Dr. P. B. Randolph, for many years a distinguished 
medium and lecturer, in a discourse which was deliv- 
ered in Clinton Hall, New York, and published in the 
Tribune, says : — 

M I was a medium about eight years, during which time I made 
three thousand speeches, and travelled over several different coun- 
tries, proclaiming the new Gospel. * •* * Experience 
has taught me that sixty-five per cent of the medical clairvoyants 
are arrant knaves, humbugs and catchpenny impostors ; thirty per 
cent are refined, sympathetic, nerval persons, who arrive at approx- 
imately true diagnoses by sympathy; such are not clairvoyants, of 
course. And five per cent of the whole are really what they claim 
to be, in various degrees of perfection. * * * I am 
personally acquainted with three hundred and forty-one professed 
medical clairvoyants, and of these there are seven actual seers who 
will stand a testing; and of these only one in America I * * 
The result of my observation is, that if one-half dozen sounds out 
of every Jive thousand that pass for spiritual, be genuine — that is, 
not made by the medium's foot against the leg of a table or chair, or 
by some other jugglery — it is a large percentage. When invisible 
musicians play pianos in dark rooms, if the hands of the medium 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 131 

be mittened and held by others, and the music still goes on, the 
inference is that they do not produce it. Writing upside down is 
an art readily obtained after a few weeks' private practice. 
Matches, or a lump of phosphorus, make very good imitations of 
spirit lights. When spirits in a dark room blow horns and talk 
through trumpets, if, unknown to the medium, a little printer's ink 
be rubbed on the mouth of the instrument, a beautiful black circle 
will, when lights are introduced, generally be found adorning the 
medium's labial appendage. * * * Dark circles are the 
king humbugs of Spiritualism generally. * * * Of 
speaking mediums twenty-five per cent, are, in my opinion, victims 
of demoniac influences; twenty-five per cent, are deliberate impos- 
tors ; eight per cent may be under healthful spiritual influences, such 
as are to be found in all church history; twenty-five per cent are 
honest-hearted men and women, laboring under the world-saving 
fever, who delude themselves and others by imagining they are 
under the special spiritual influence of some defunct philosopher; 
and the remaining seventeen per cent consists of persons who have 
the power in themselves (although they assign it to the spirits) of 
inducing at will a dreamy sort of ecstasy, or trance, during which 
they are frequently insensible to physical pain, and possess an 
extraordinary power of mental concentration. This trance can 
easily be induced. " 

From a communication made through Mr. Bedell, of 

Constantine, Mich., and purporting to be from the 

spirit of George Washington, I make the following 

extract : — 

11 If ther eny here that do not beleve what we Say, they must 
look on and be convinced, but you must not triffle with us for we 
are not trifflers. we meny times make mistakes and so we are 
called liars, but this is owing to our neglect of the records that are 
given us, and also to evel sperits, but we will try to be more careful 
or correct after we have become more used to writing for our 

Friends ' "George Washington." 

Well might the poet exclaim : — 

" If in your new estate you can not rest, 
But must return, O grant us this request! 
Come with a noble and celestial air, 
And prove your titles to the names you bear. 
Give some clear token of your heavenly birth: 
Write as good English as you wrote on earth; 
And, what were once superfluous to advise, 
Don't tell, I beg you, such egregious lies. " 

— 8AXE. 



132 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

5th. "Having their conscience seared with a hot 
iron." — Yerse 2. 

The facts already adduced are sufficient to show that 
the seductive system of Spiritism leads its devotees 
from one degree of iniquity to another till the heart 
becomes so hardened that they can sin without any 
remorse of conscience. But I add a few more facts. 
E. Y. Wilson's conscience must have been pretty well 
seared or he could not have written as follows : — 

" 'Michigan City! ' shouted the brakesman, and we parted: he in 
sadness, following Jesus; we in joy, following our nose. " — Truths 
of Sp., page 151. 

His conscience must have been somewhat seared to 
utter such a prayer as the following : — 

"Oh! Pullman, we thank thee for this magnificent sleeping car 
Oh! Michigan Central Railroad Company, we thank thee for this 
well-ordered and well-balanced railway, trusting our precious 
body into the hands of, first, the engineer; second, the conductor; 
third, the brakesman, and lastly, we commit ourselves into thy 
hands, oh! Michigan Central Railroad Company, for the next forty- 
two days, and beseech thee to employ only such servants as will 
keep a sharp lookout, remain sober, and land us safely at last in 
our home. One favor more we ask, oh! Michigan Central Railroad, 
that you may be moved to send the Gentle Wilson a half-fare 
ticket over all the railways you own or control — all of which 
favors we ask for Farmer Mary's sake I Amen. " — Truths of Sp., 
page 143-4. 

Dr. Wm. B. Potter, a Spiritual writer, deposeth as 
follows : — 

"Parting husbands and wives is one of the notorious tendencies 
of Spiritualism. The oldest and most influential teacher of Spirit- 
ualism has 'two wives, each of whom he encouraged to get divorced 
before he married them. When one of the most eloquent trance 
speakers left her husband, he came out and stated that he knew sixty 
cases of media leaving companions. We heard one of the most 
popular impressional speakers say to a large audience, that she was 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 133 

compelled by spirits to secede from a husbaud with whom she was 
living very happily. We lately heard a very intellectual, eloquent, 
and popular normal speaker say, in an eloquent address to a large 
convention of Spiritualists, that ■ he would to God that it had parted 
twenty, where it had parted one.' In short, wherever we go, we 
find this tendency in Spiritualism." — Spiritualism As it Is, pp. 10- 
11. 

Again he says, on page 20 : " After years of careful 
investigation, we are compelled, much against our in- 
clinations, to admit that more than half of our travel- 
ling media, speakers and prominent Spiritualists, are 
guilty of immoral and licentious practices, that have 
justly provoked the abhorrence of all right-thinking 
people.' ' 

Mr. Harris, in the lecture from which we have al- 
ready quoted, says : — 

" Murder, adultery, suicide, and the most revolting blasphemies, 
may be traced directly to the communications and puttings forth of 
impure spirits, both in ancient and modern times." 

He adds to the impressive testimony quoted on a 
former page : — 

"And, so far as I am able to judge, the majority of such in- 
stances are traceable to the habit of attending seances. I earnestly 
call attention to this point. The man of iron nerves may say that 
he feels no change of state. He may laugh down the idea of peril. 
With him it is but a question of time. The vitriol that eats in a day 
through iron wire, has but to continue the process to eat through 
the iron bar. It is slow, this poison, but sure. I lift the alarm cry 
of danger. It is not safe, unless there is a Divine use and value in 
the act, and so, unless it is in the order of Providence, either to 
submit to a spirit's influence, or to participate in circles of spirit- 
manifestations. * * * As with a voice from the secret chambers, 
where the fair, the young, the virtuous, the unsuspecting, from the 
mere habit of attending the seance, have felt the foul contact of the 
larvae from perdition, I cry to all, ■ Shun the seance, where the un- 
regenerate, or giddy, or worldly, or volatile and careless medium 
officiates as the middle stander and opener of the door between the 
natural and unseen worlds. If you do not wish to become your- 



134 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

selves demoniacs, shun the place and shun the occasion.' To the 
pure, to those who would remain pure, I can hint such reasons as, 
if uttered, would make every ear tingle. " 

Dr. B. F. Hatch, formerly husband of the noted 
trance-speaking medium, Mrs. Cora V. Hatch, now 
Mrs. Daniels, deposeth as follows: — 

" I have heard much of the improvement in individuals in conse- 
quence of a belief in Spiritualism. With such I have had no 
acquaintance. But I have known many whose integrity of charac- 
ter and uprightness of purpose rendered them worthy examples to 
all around, but who, on becoming mediums, and giving up their 
individuality, also gave up every sense of honor and decency. A 
less degree of severity in this remark will apply to a large class of 
both mediums and believers. There are thousands of high-minded 
and intelligent Spiritualists who will agree with me that it is no 
slander in saying that the inculcation of no doctrines in this coun- 
try has ever shown such disastrous moral and social results as the 
Spiritual theories. * * * Iniquities which have justly 
received the condemnation of centuries are openly upheld; vices 
which would destroy every wholesome regulation of society are 
crowned as virtues; prostitution is believed to be fidelity to self; 
marriage an outrage on freedom; love evanescent, and, like the 
bee, should sip the sweets wherever found; bastards are claimed 
to be spiritually begotten. All change, of whatever nature, is 
believed to be an improvement, as there is no retrogression. Ini- 
quity is only the effervescence of the outworkings of a heavenly 
destiny. God is shorn of his personality and becomes simply a 
permeating principle, the Bible a libel on common sense, and 
Christ a mere medium, hardly equal to the spiritual babies of ' this 
more progressive age.' " — Spiritualism Unveiled, p. 93. 

One of their writers, Dr. Gridley, describes the suf- 
ferings inflicted by the spirits upon an aged medium 
of sixty years, in Southampton, Mass., as follows : — 

"These spirits would pinch and pound him, twitch him up and 
throw him down, yell and blaspheme, and use the most obscene lan- 
guage that mortal can conceive ; they would declare that they were 
Christ in one breath and devils in the next; they would tie him 
head to foot a long time together, in a most excruciating posture ; 

declare they would wring his d d neck off because he doubted 

them or refused obedience." — Astounding Facts from the Spirit 
World, pp. 253-4. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 135 

In the Eel. Phil. Journal, of June 29th, 1878, A. J. 
Davis declares it to be impossible to rescue Spiritual- 
ism from impostors and pretenders. He declares that 
every circle "is certain to develop more or less uncer- 
tainty and deception." Pronounces the most reliable 
mediums to be unreliable. 

The Providence Journal, of Oct. 22, 1851, gives an 
account of a medium named Almira Bezely, of Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island, who predicted the death of her 
infant brother, and then poisoned him with arsenic. 
On her trial she confessed the crime, and alleged the 
" rappings " as the cause. 

Many such cases might be given, but it is unneces- 
sary. It is evident that the leading Spiritualists have 
very small conscientiousness. Crime has marked the 
tracks of the delusion from the murder of this child 
to the murder of S. S. Jones, of the Religio Philo- 
sophical Journal. 

6th. "Forbidding to marry." — Verse 3. 

The Spiritists oppose marriage, and advocate free- 
love. They feel the force of this passage, as is evinced 
by the fact that the word " priest " is added in a per- 
verted New Testament, which they claim was revised 
by the spirits, making it read, " Forbidding the priest 
to marry.* ' The galled jade may wince, but they can 
not saddle it upon the Catholics, for the latter so far 
from opposing marriage, regard it as a holy bond, that 
nought but death can sever. 



136 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

One of the leading Spiritualists, Victoria Woodhull, 
edited a paper especially devoted to " free-love" in 
opposition to matrimony. As they " speak lies in 
hypocrisy," they may try to deny that this notorious 
woman is a leading Spiritualist, but they can not deny 
it, because they elected her President of one of their 
national conventions. Not only so, but free-love crops 
out almost everywhere in their literature, and there are 
writers connected with their most respectable journals 
who oppose the institution of marriage. One of their 
publications, " Light from the Spirit World," thus 
boldly enunciates their doctrine: "The marriage in- 
stitution of man is wrong, and must be annulled ere 
the race is redeemed! " 

E. V. Wilson says: " Matehood depends upon the 
divine law of affinities ; hence there is no marriage or 
giving in marriage in the 4 Spirit World. ' — Truths 
of Spiritualism, page 25. Mr. Gridley expresses the 
same sentiment and adds " that the same liberty will 
ere long be given to men on earth, ' who are found worthy 
to obtain that world and the resurrection of the dead/ 
(which can be done without putting off the body.)" — 
Gridley, 171, 172. 

On the 323d page of his book, Mr. Wilson gives an 
account of the wife of a Spiritualist lecturer in Ham- 
monton, N. J., who has been deserted by her husband, 
and left to make a support for herself and little daughter 
by sewing. Mr. W. appeals to the renegade by the gos- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 137 

pel of Spiritualism, and advises him as a brother ; but 
what advice does he give him? Here it is: " Step 
forward, brother and be a man ! " That's good; but 
let us hear him further, and see what it is to be a man : 
"Free this woman from the bond that has made her 
your property.' ' That don't sound so well, and he must 
add something else, but that being the uppermost 
thought he repeats it : " Give to her the darling child, 
and set her free ! " Then, for the sake of decency, he 
adds, "or come to her support like a man." 

Mr. Wilson has written a book of 400 pages, in 
in which he alludes to the woman he lives with many 
times ; but never once, in all his writing, does he call 
her wife! He calls her his " mate ;" he calls her 
" Farmer Mary," and almost everything else he can 
think of, except " wife." He avoids the use of that 
term as applicable to his own companion, though he 
applies it to other women; and in one instance he 
applies it to a young woman who was never married, 
but merely affianced. —Page 169. 

In 1854 Mr. Ballou, one of the early leaders of 
Spiritualism, seeing the free-love tendency in the 
system, gave the following warning, which was pub- 
lished in the N. Y. Tribune: — 

11 It will have something of a run. Mediums will be seen exchang- 
ing its significant congenialities, fondlings, caresses, and indescriba- 
bilities. They will receive revelations from high-pretending spirits, 
cautiously instructing them that the sexual communion of congen- 
ials will greatly sanctify them for the reception of angelic minis- 
trations. Wives and husbands will be rendered miserable, alienated, 
parted, and then families broken up . There will be spiritual matches, 



138 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

carnal degradations, and all the inevitable wretchedness thence 
inevitably resulting. Yet the very persons most active in bringing 
about all this, will protest their own purity, will resent every sus- 
picion raised to their discredit * * * and will stand 
boldly out in their real character only when it is not possible to 
disguise it. All this has commenced, and will be fulfilled in due 
time." 

At the Eutland Keformed Convention, which closed 
June 27, 1858, Mrs. Julia Branch, of New York, in a 
speech advocating free-love, used the following lan- 
guage : — 

"lam aware that I have chosen almost a forbidden subject; for- 
bidden from the fact that any one who can or dare look the marriage 
question in the face, candidly and openly denouncing the institution 
as the sole cause of woman's degradation and misery, are objects 
of suspicion, of scorn, and opprobrious epithets." — Banner of Light, 
July 10, 1858. 

In a speech at the Spiritual Convention of Ravenna, 

Ohio, July 4th and 5th, 1857, Mrs. Lewis said: — 

" To confine her love to one man was an abridgment of her rights. 
* * * Although she had one husband in Cleveland, she 
considered herself married to the whole human race. All men were 
her husbands, and she had an undying love for them. What busir 
ness is it to the world whether one man is the father of my children, 
or ten men are ! I have a right to say who shall be the father of 
my offspring." 

Dr. Wm. B. Potter, after fifteen years of experi- 
ence and observation in the system, says : — 

" Is is a notorious fact, that leading teachers, noted mediums and 
popular speakers have deserted companions, obtained divorces, 
gone off with ' Affinities,' or practiced promiscuous intercourse to 
get f Spiritual element,' or to 'impart vital magnetism for the cure 
of disease.' The outside world has no just conception of the folly, 
'Free-Love,' and licentiousness among Spiritualists ; especially on 
the part of 'healing' and 'developing mediums.' We could give, 
the names of hundreds, but for the present we spare them. 

"At the National Convention of Spiritualists, at Chicago, called 
to consider the question of a national organization, the only plan 
approved by its committee especially provided that no charge 
should ever be entertained against any member, and that any person, 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 139 

without any regard to moral character, might become a member. 
Notorious ' Free-Lovers ' and libertines have been especial and 
honored correspondents of Spiritual papers. Conventions of 
Spiritualists have accepted as delegates, and elected to office, well- 
known, persistent, habitual libertines. The late National Con- 
vention of Spiritualists, at Philadelphia, through its committee, 
refused to even read a proposition to disfellowship known libertines, 
but formed a permanent, national organization with annual dele- 
gated Conventions, from which the lowest and most beastly licen- 
tiousness shall not exclude any one." — Milner's Religious 
Denominations, page 534. 

All the while there have been some good men and 
women among the Spiritualists, that have opposed 
free-love at every step, but they could not thwart the 
inevitable; and this only renders the fulfillment of 
the prophecy all the more remarkable. 

7th. "Commanding to abstain from meats.* 9 * 
This being the least distinguishing feature of the 
system, the apostolic-prophet places it last. The Spir- 
itualists "direct to abstain from meats for the purpose 
of superinducing the mediumistic state. A. J. Davis, 
in his book called Arabula, opposes the killing of deer 
and all other animals, and, of course, if they cannot 
kill them, they can not eat them. The Woodhull and 
Claflin Weekly ', in announcing a Spiritualistic Con- 
vention, states that Mrs. Juliet H. Severance, will be 
one of the speakers, and adds : "Mrs. Severance, more, 
perhaps, than any other person in the Spiritual ranks, 
is representative of the important branch of the 
higher life, regarding diet, being a*living example 
of its beneficent effects.' ' — W. and C. Weekly, Feb. 
26th, 1876. 

* "Commanding" is in italics, which shows that it is a supplied word; 
" advising" would have done ab wel!. 



140 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 



We sometimes see an item like the folio 



wing : — 



" The Spirit of John Murray informs us that in a short time we 
are all to live without eating : ' The very food with which you now 
nourish your mortal bodies, that will be laid aside.' — Messages, 
page 124. This must seriously affect the produce market, and is 
an important revelation." — Spirit Mapping Unveiled, page 146. 

Only one week has elapsed after the conclusion of 
Dr. Tanner's noted fast wheD we hear of him in a 
Spiritualist meeting, in New York, where we hear the 
lecturer, Mrs. Britten, maintaining that the atmosphere 
about us is charged with material capable of sustaining 
life without food, and referring to his forty-day fast 
as an illustration. The Doctor also made some 
remarks. The little episode is thus alluded to by a 
correspondent of a Spiritualist paper : — 

" The whole passed with the utmost courtesy, and, indeed, cordial- 
ity; and Dr. Tanner conversed with her afterwards for several 
minutes. In the course of the interview, he said that he hoped for 
great good to humanity from what he had been enabled to do, and 
that he had not yet got through with his experiments. I have been 
told by a friend of Dr. Tanner that he is a Spiritualist." — Banner 
of Light, Aug. 28th, 1880. 

I admit that Spiritualism is wonderful. It is truly 
wonderful that such an institution should arise and 
flourish in this enlightened age. But it is a great deal 
more wonderful that Paul should know that it would 
arise, and describe its features, item by item, eighteen 
centuries ago ! There is no way to account for it, 
except by conceding that he wrote by divine inspira- 
tion, and, if he did, " all Scripture is given by inspira- 
tion of God," for he says so. Spiritualists can not 
say that he described their system by aid of the spirits, 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 



141 



because that would be a house divided against itself, 
which can not stand. Besides, it is not in evidence 
that any spirit knows the distant future, except the 
Spirit of the living God. Now, that Spiritualism has 
been in existence for a number of years, and with its 
history and characteristics fully before the world, no 
man can give a description of it, in the same narrow 
compass, that will excel the description given by the 
Apostle eighteen hundred years before it originated. 
We may then safely and rationally conclude that Paul 
was aided by a superhuman, even by a divine influence. 



THIKD SPECIFICATION. 

PREDICTION CONCERNING AVOWED INFIDELS. 



"This second epistle, beloved, I 
now write unto you ; in both which I 
stir up your pure minds by way of 
remembrance: 

That ye may be mindful of the 
words which were spoken before by 
the holy prophets, and of the com- 
mandment of us the apostles of the 
Lord and Savior: 

Knowing this first, that there shall 
come in the last days scoffers, walk- 
ing after their own lusts, 

And saying, Where is the promise 
of his coming? for since the fathers 
fell asleep, all things continue as 
they were from the beginning of the 
creation. 

For this they willingly are ignorant 
of, that by the word of God the 
heavens were of old, and the earth 
standing out of the water and in the 
water: 

Whereby the world that then was, 
being overflowed with water, per- 
ished: 

But the heavens and the earth, 
which are now, by the same word, 
are kept in store, reserved unto fire 
against the day of judgment and per- 
dition of ungodly men." — II Peteb, 
Hi: 1-7. 



" These are murmurers, complain- 
ers, walking after their own lusts ; and 
their mouth speaketh great swelling 
words, having men's persons in 
admiration, because of advantage. 

But, beloved, remember ye the 
words which were spoken before of 
the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ : 

How that they told you there should 
be mockers in the last .time, who 
should walk after their own ungodly 
lusts. 

These be they who separate 
themselves, sensual, having not the 
Spirit." — Jude, 16-19. 



142 HAND-BOOK OP CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

In noticing the prophecies of the Old Testament, we 
frequently found two or more prophets foretelling the 
same event, and here we find two of the apostles 
prophetically describing the most open and defiant 
enemies with whom the Church of Christ has to con- 
tend. And now, after all the facts that have been 
adduced, if Infidels are not yet convinced of the truth 
of fulfilled prophecy, I say to them : Sirs, you are 
yourselves a fulfillment of prophecy — you are ful- 
filling divine predictions every day you live, every day 
you scoff at the word of God, and scout the idea of 
the miracles recorded on its sacred pages. If you can 
not see a fulfillment of prophecy in the destruction 
and desolation of the cities and countries enumerated ; 
if you can not see a verification of the words of Jeho- 
vah in the dispersion and perpetuity of the Jewish 
people; if you can discover no accomplishment of 
prophecy in the rise and progress of the papacy ; if 
you can not see unmistakable evidence of fulfilled pre- 
diction in the varied phases of modern Spiritualism ; 
then, I say to you, look nearer home, turn your eyes 
upon yourselves, observe your own lives, your own 
character and disposition; compare what you do with 
what the apostles said persons of your description 
would do, and then tell me, whether or not, events 
foretold in the Bible are coming to pass. But let us 
look at the prediction more in detail, and see how it 
fits you. The proof of the tailor is to try on the 
coat. If the coat fits you, you must acknowledge that 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 143 

Peter and Jude had your pattern when they cut out 
the cloth and formed the garment. 

1st. These lustful scoffers and sensual mockers ivere 
to come in the last days — or latter days — which we 
have shown to mean ii modern times." 

You, you unbelieving scoffers and Infidel quibblers, 
have arisen in modern times. It is but a late thing 
that your movement has assumed the aspect of organ- 
ized and systematic opposition to the religion of the 
Bible. 

2d. The characters described were to be " scoffers. yi 

You are scoffers. James M. Peebles, Spiritualist, 
in a lecture reported in the Banner of Light, speaks 
of a " class of Spiritualists, alias Materialists, who 
strove to annihilate God, snarled at Jesus, snubbed the 
apostles, spit upon everything recorded in the Bible, 
scoffed at prayer, sneered at religion, and madly 
trampled upon the honest convictions of others.' ' 
"Alias Materialists/ ' that is well said. While there 
are some Spiritualists that are avowed Infidels, and 
who are, as scoffers, equalled by few and excelled by 
none, yet that is not one of their characteristics, while 
it is a characteristic of the Materialists. While the 
latter openly denounce and scoff, the former endeavor, 
by falsehood and deceit, to instill into the mind prin- 
ciples subversive of the truth, tending to gradually 
undermine the temple of Christ and effect its over- 
throw. The Spiritualists are like Judas, who said, 
Hail, Master I and kissed the Christ, while betraying 



144 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

him into the hands of his enemies. The Materialists 
are like those who mocked and derided him while on 
the cross, saying, " he saved others, himself he can not 
save ! if he be the King of Israel let him now descend 
from the cross and we will believe him!" Avowed 
Infidels are nearly all scoffers, from Voltaire, who 
wrote, " twenty years more, and God will be in 
pretty plight !" to Dr. Stine, who denounced Paul as 
4 * an old gas-bag, scoundrel and liar." To copy all 
the scoffs and ridicule of Voltaire and Thomas Paine, 
would be to transcribe a large portion of their writings. 
And, indeed, it is superfluous to cite examples to show 
that any of the Infidel teachers are scoffers, yet I pre- 
sent a few : — 

Col. Ingersoll makes a business of delivering lec- 
tures full of scoffing and blasphemy. The editor of an 
Infidel paper, giving an account of a debate between 
Dr. Stine and the author, says of Stine : " He bullies, 
blusters, swaggers, denounces. In one of his lectures 
he vociferated : * Paul is an old gas-bag, an infernal 
scoundrel and liar ! ' During the discussion he often 
made the most frivolous remarks." — Common Sense, 
May, 1875. 

James M. Walker, editor of the Liberal, in a 
pamphlet on the Sunday Question, used the following 
scoffing language: "A great shadowy god, something 
between a cloud and an exaggerated man, a wonder- 
ful man with long hair, and a look of perpetual sor- 
row," etc. 



DIVINE OKIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 145 

Col. Peterson, my old antagonist in the arena of 
public discussion, is no more given to scoffing than 
some of the rest of them, yet his writings abound 
with such expressions as the following: " Eepudiate 
all gods and goddesses, all devils and devilesses, all 
ghosts and ghostesses ! ' ' — Common Sense, May, 
1875. " We would not give the peace of mind vouch- 
safed by our knowledge of the glorious fact of anni- 
hilation, for a belief in all the Gospels, Gods, Ghosts, 
Sons, Virgin Marys, Devils, Trinities, Bibles, Proph- 
ets, Popes, Holy Water, Baptisms, Sacraments, Sac- 
rifices, Miracles, Resurrections, Judgments, Angels, 
Heavens, Hells, Priests or Parsons that ever emanated 
from the frenzied brain or issued from the exhausted 
womb of infatuated humanity.' ' — Common Sense, 
April, 1875. He speaks of " the benighted hosts of 
the Christian superstition ! " and adds: — 

•■ O how our heart bleeds when we behold these idolators bowing 
before the horrid phantom of their priest-ridden imaginations! 
when we see them ducking in mill-ponds in the full hallucination 
that they are hyperbolically laving in divine blood! when we behold 
them chewing a piece of wretched bread, and drinking logwooded 
alcohol under the diabolical impression that they are, like the 
Catholics, eating and drinking the veritable flesh and blood of a 
deceased god! Or, like the Protestants, that they are masticating 
figuratively the same substances. How long, 0, Jupiter-Ammon, 
shall this thing go on? Cannibals eat missionaries, but Christians 
are the champion cannibals of the universe!" — Common Sense, 
June 15, 1877. 

Infidels, see how you are fulfilling prophecy by 
scoffing at things divine ! 

3d. They were to walk " after their own lusts. 9 * 
They were to acknowledge no guide or standard of 

10 



146 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

right but their own desires. Infidels fill the bill pre- 
cisely. They have cast aside every restraint. They 
have discarded the Bible as a standard. They are left 
without any guide, and can only fall back upon the 
maxim : " Whatever is, is right;" or, as some express 
it, " Whatever a man thinks is right, is right to him." 
In fact, a great many of them discard all distinction 
of right and wrong, declaring that there is no such 
thing as sin in the universe ! They declare that what 
we call sins are mere bubbles on the great ocean of 
right. They deny all accountability; consequently 
they are set adrift without any moral restraint, " walk- 
ing after their own lusts." 

Mr. Harris, a writer already quoted on the 120th page 
of this work, puts the theory into words, as follows: 
" That vice is virtue in its unprogressive or germinal 
condition; that sin is an impossible chimera." 

Dr. Priestley formulates it as follows : " Nothing 
does or can go wrong," — " all retrograde motions in 
the moral, as well as in the natural world, are only 
apparent, not real." — Schmucker's Denominations, 
Article Materialists, page 289. 

A. Wilford Hall says : " There are thousands of the 
more 'radical' thinkers, as they call themselves, of 
the advanced class of scientific investigators, who 
have formed themselves into clubs in different cities 
of this country and Europe, the first article of whose 
creed is that will is a chimera, that the power of volun- 
tary choice is a fallacy of psychology, and a mental 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 147 

delusion, and that man intrinsically is a puppet, a mere 
automaton,' ' etc. Then, after stating that it was the 
position of Kobert Owen, the Scotch Atheist, etc., he 
remarks that such a system would "obliterate all dis- 
tinction between right and wrong, vice and virtue; and 
in so doing wipe out the social system and civil govern- 
ment. " Then he very forcibly observes: " It is only 
because the advocates of this doctrine do not believe 
it, nor act upon it; in other words, because they are 
superior to their philosophy, that they are not all in 
the State prison.' ' — Problem of Human Life, pages 
67-69. 

4th. They were to scoff at the coming of Christ, 
insisting that nothing supernatural had ever taken 
place. — Verse 4. 

Christians say that Jesus is coming again to judge 
the world, and wind up this state of affairs. These 
scoffers reply, " O, that can not be ! there will be no 
hereafter ! there never was such a thing as a miracle, 
and never will be — all things continue as they were 
from the beginning of the creation ! " Christians point 
to displays of miraculous power interposed since " the 
beginning of creation," but they deny all that. As 
they believe in evolution they have to admit some 
supernatural power, or force, to put evolution in 
motion; they must then admit something like a mira- 
cle in the "beginning of creation;" but they main- 
tain that since then nothing has occurred but what has 
been brought about by the operation of natural laws, 



148 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

and that such a change as Christ's coming implies, can 
not, therefore, take place. They, therefore, scoff at 
the very idea of the second advent. Dr. Monroe, editor 
of the Seymour Times, in a ridiculous pamphlet, 
entitled the " Origin of Man," etc., says, ironically : — 

" In groping through this gloomy vale of tears, 
One joy remains — our Jesus we shall meet ; 
And when we've sung his praise ten thousand years, 
We've just begun; and wails — how sweet, how sweet." 

Many similar examples of their scoffs might be 
given, were we not loathe to mar our page. 

How well Peter described the quibbles of modern 
Infidelity! The Apostle says, "they are willingly 
ignorant that by the word of God the heavens were 
of old, and the earth," etc. They lose sight of the 
fact that the same power that could bring the earth 
into existence, could destroy it. As the Savior says : 
" They do err, neither knowing the Scriptures, nor 
the power of God!" They are willingly ignorant. 
Though they have the voice of nature, as well as the 
voice of revelation, they listen to neither, when they 
come in contact with their theories. They contemplate 
the regular order of nature, — the oak produces the 
acorn, and the acorn in turn produces the oak, which 
again produces the acorn. But run this matter back 
to the starting point. Which was first, the oak or the 
acorn?" "The acorn." Well, then, you have an 
acorn that never grew on an oak ! and that is a miracle. 
" O, no, the oak was first." Then you have an oak 
without an acorn, and that is a miracle I Which was 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 149 

first, man or woman ? or, were both produced simulta- 
neously ? A man without a mother ! A woman with- 
out a father ! Or, a pair without either? Whenever 
an Infidel goes back to the beginning, he is swamped. 
But they disregard all these considerations, and the 
facts of geology, which show, that at several different 
epochs of the earth's history, God has interposed 
miraculously, and actually created many new species 
of both animals and vegetables. Hear the learned 
Prof. Hitchcock : — 

1 ' If we take only those larger groups of animals and plants, whose 
almost entire distinctions from one another has been established 
beyond all doubt, we shall find at least five nearly complete organic 
revolutions on the globe." — Elementary Geology, page 196. 

5th. "They were to deny the flood" Verses 5 
and 6. 

They were to be willingly ignorant of the fact that 
the earth being overflowed with water, perished, i.e., 
they were to deny that there ever was a deluge. This 
they do sco Singly. One of these predicted mockers, 
named Maximilian Fox, of Napanee, Ontario, speaks 
of the Bible asa" book of holy absurdities," and then 
alludes to the flood in the following shocking language : 
"Old Jehovah curing the world by a cold bath, and 
Noah's celebrated menagerie. " — Common Sense, Feb. 
15th, 1876. A more refined writer among them, 
Karl Heinsen, says: — 

11 The storms multiplied, other extraordinary phenomena followed, 
and then arose the renowned Deluge. The patriarch Noah, who 
understood fishing and owned a ship, succeeded in saving himself 
with a little colony, while others were drowned, and he ascribed 



150 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

this rescue to the account of this same nothing, namely, the especial 
favor of him who out of nothing had allowed the great flood to go 
forth. Noah was through a nothing a made man, also without his 
renowned ark into which he took with him ' a male and a female ' 
of all animals, that is his ox and his cow, his he-goat and his she- 
goat, his cock and hen. Drawing from the great fountain of nothing, 
he had with nothing puffed himself out to a demigod, and the 
inheritance of his nothing descended to his sons, Shem, Ham and 
Japhet. Out of the same fountain which had now already become 
the source of higher suggestions, predictions, authorizations, etc., 
were created Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the great nothing- 
men on the background of history, till at last, the greatest of all 
the old nothing- artists, Moses, reduced the science of nothing to a 
system which still forms always the foundation of the authority of 
all humbuggers, and of the belief of all the humbugged." — Letters 
to a Pious Man, page 53. 

Dr. Monroe, in the pamphlet already quoted, scoffs 
and ridicules as follows : — 

" He will not dip his finger in the blood 
Drawn from the pierced side of dear Emanuel; 

He says no great deluge was Noah's flood, 
Nor were real lions in that den with ■ Daniel.' " 

Thus they scoff and ridicule the idea of a flood, just 
as Peter said they would do. " But," say the Infidels, 
"we do not believe there ever was any flood !" I 
know you do not. That is just what I am writing 
about. And that is just what Peter foretold. He said 
you would not believe there ever was a Deluge ; or, in 
other words, you would be wilfully ignorant of it. 
Infidels are wilfully ignorant of the flood, because 
they have proof enough from three distinct sources 
to establish the fact, if they would give the testimony 
its proper weight. 

In the first place, they have the testimony of Moses, 
whose testimony is entitled to credit because he fore- 



DIVINE OKIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 151 

told the destiny and circumstances of the Jewish peo- 
ple throughout all time ; foretold that a nation should 
come from afar, whose tongue they should not under- 
stand, and destroy their chief cities; that they should 
be scattered among all nations, and become a proverb 
and by-word ; that they should never be utterly 
destroyed, or become extinct. Surely if he could 
record historical facts hundreds of years before they 
transpired, we should believe him when he records 
events that took place before he wrote. 

In the second place, there is a universal tradition of 
the flood, and historians of ancient times, independent 
of the Bible writers, testify that it occurred. Mco- 
laus, of Damascus, who wrote 600 years before Christ, 
in the 96th book of his Universal History, says : — 

"There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called 
Baris, upon which, it is reported, that many who fled at the time of 
the deluge were saved ; and that one, who was carried in an ark, 
came on shore on top of it, and that the remains of the timber were 
a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom 
Moses, the lawgiver of the Jews, did write." 

Berosus, a Chaldean historian, 400 B. C, wrote : — 

"Xisuthrus [Noah] was warned in a dream that mankind was to 
be destroyed by a flood on the 15th day of the month, Daesius, and 
that he should build a sort of ship and go into it with his friends 
and kindred, and that he should make a provision of meat and 
drink, and take into his vessel fowls and four-footed beasts ; that 
Xisuthrus acted according to the admonition ; built a ship, and put 
into it all that he was commanded, and went into it with his wife 
and children and dearest friends. When the flood was come and 
began to abate, Xisuthrus let out some birds, which, finding no food 
nor place to rest upon, returned to the ship again; after some days 
he let out the birds again, but they came back with their legs daubed 
with mud. Some days after he let them go the third time, but then 
they came to the ship no more. Xisuthrus understood thereby that 



152 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

the earth appeared above the waters, and taking down some of the 
boards of the ship, he saw that it rested upon a mountain. Some- 
time after, he and his wife and his pilot went out of the ship to offer 
sacrifices." — Shuckford's Connections, vol. l,pp. 14-15. 

Of this great historian the classical Charles Anthon 
says: " He possessed every advantage which the rec- 
ords of the temple and the learning and tradition of 
the Chaldeans could afford, and seems to have com- 
posed his work with a serious regard to truth." * 

I might mention the testimony of Hecateus, 580 
B. C, and Lucian, 200 A. D., but it is unnecessary. 
Berosus and Josephus both say that it was claimed by 
the inhabitants of Armenia that portions of the ark 
were still in existence in their day. There must have 
been an ark and a flood, or no such reports would have 
been started. The belief in a flood seemed to be uni- 
versal when Josephus and Philo wrote, and since their 
day the discovery of monumental inscriptions regard- 
ing the deluge has rendered the evidence still stronger, f 
I regard those independent testimonies as possessing 
some weight, when taken in connection with the fact 
that there is a tradition of an immense deluge among 
the Armenians, Greeks, Arabs, Hindoos, Chinese, 
Scandinavians, and, in fact, among all nations, not 
excepting the Fiji Islanders and North American 
Indians. 

In the third place, Infidels are "wilfully ignorant" 
of the flood, because geology shows that the whole 

* For further information see "Heathen Testimonies," by T. Munnell; 
Standard Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. . 
t Those discovered by Mr. Geo. Smith are particularly invaluable. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 153 

earth was at one time inundated with water. As Hugh 
Miller would say, " The testimony is in the Rocks/ ' 
The inhabitants of the ocean are found petrified upon 
the highest hills, and there are in Western Pennsyl- 
vania and in several of the Western States, hard, 
flinty rocks, that are evidently not natives, and skep- 
tical scientists themselves account for their presence 
by saying that they floated in great cakes of ice from 
the icy mountains of the arctic region. 

But it is unnecessary to "give line upon line. ,, 
The foregoing facts are sufficient to show that unbe- 
lievers are willingly ignorant of the flood, i.e., that 
knowledge of it is within their reach, but they will 
not receive it ; in other words, that they have proof 
of it, but will not receive it. Skeptics, we hear some 
talk about mind-reading. How could Peter read your 
minds eighteen hundred years ago ? * 

6th. They were to deny the future destruction of the 
earth by fire. 5-7. 

This, it is well known, that the Infidels do, and the 
apostle sets it down that they are wilfully ignorant of 
this as of the other : " But the heavens and the earth, 
which are now, by the same word, are kept in store, 
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and 
perdition of ungodly men." The argument of the 
apostle is a good one, that the same God who made 
the world and peopled it with innumerable inhabitants, 



* It is remarkable that in these last days the Infidels apply to themselves a 
name which means ignorance: "Agnostic," "not knowing." 



154 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

and once destroyed it by water, has the power to 
destroy it by fire ; and as God, according to the reli- 
able testimony which we have, declared by his word 
before the flood that it should come, and it did, as he 
has by the same word informed us that it should be 
destroyed by fire, it will most surely come to pass. 
Nevertheless, Infidels have argued that the earth can 
not be destroyed by fire on account of the abundance 
of water on the globe. The sacred writer seems to 
anticipate that objection when he shows that God has 
from the beginning controlled the water according to 
his own will. Notwithstanding three- fourths of the 
earth's surface is covered with water, nothing is more 
probable than that the globe should at some future 
time be enwrapped in flames. It has long since been 
demonstrated by men of science that even water may 
be placed under such conditions as to cause it to burn 
with a fury and intensity surpassing all human imagin- 
ation ! The same is also true of the atmosphere, as is 
shown by the wonderful ravages of the fire-fiend in 
Wisconsin and Minnesota not many years since. Some 
unbelieving but scientific men tell us that with the 
exception of a crust on the surface of some sixty miles 
in thickness, the earth beneath us is one vast mass of 
fire, hotter than any smelter's furnace; and when we 
watch volcanoes furiously belching forth immense 
streams of burning lava, we may not think it at all 
improbable. And though man has been able to 
penetrate but a short distance into the earth, great 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 155 

reservoirs of gas have been discovered. This gas, 
when ignited, has proved very destructive to life and 
property. Besides rivers of oil have been discovered 
flowing beneath the earth. All these facts make the 
preservation of the earth a greater wonder than its 
destruction would be, and admonish us that as easy as a 
man can strike a match and ignite the gas or light 
a bonfire, the Creator of the world could, by a com- 
bination of the forces alluded to, if not by others 
unknown to us, wrap this earth in a vast sheet of fire, 
causing the atmosphere to pass away with a great noise 
and the elements to melt with fervent heat.* 

But my object was to show that Peter foretold what 
position the Infidels should occupy, and the theories 
they would advance ; this I have sufficiently done. He 
foretold that they should scoff and scout the idea of 
Christ's reappearing, deny the miraculous, be " wil- 
lingly ignorant" of the flood, and disbelieve the 
threatened destruction of the earth by fire ; and it has 
come to pass even as it was predicted. This estab- 
lishes the claim of Peter and Jude to prophetic fore- 
sight, which implies divine inspiration. And if the 
writings of those men were inspired, the writings of 
Paul were, for Peter endorses his epistles as Scripture 

* The author casts no reflection on those who maintain that the flood only 
partially covered the earth; nor on those devout men who maintain that 
the earth will be only partially destroyed at the appearing of Christ. His 
remarks are applicable to those only who deny the fact of the flood and scoff 
at the prediction that the present earth will give place to a new one. Good 
men may honestly differ as to the minutise.and the author forbears entering 
into details, this work being neither expository nor doctrinal. 



156 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

right here in this same chapter; yea, all the apostles 
were inspired, for Jude endorses them as such. 



The religion of Jesus has three great enemies, 
Popery, Spiritualism and open Infidelity. How 
remarkable that the rise and progress of these three 
systems should be foretold and their characteristics 
described in the very beginning of the Christian era. 
Well might Peter say, " we have a more sure word of 
prophecy unto which we do well to take heed!" I 
just regard this chapter of evidence as irrefragable and 
irrefutable. These writers could not have foretold 
these things with such remarkable accuracy unless they 
were aided by divine power, and if aided by divine 
power the religion they promulgated is all that they 
claim for it. 

The prophetic chapter of evidence is peculiarly 
strong and invincible. Not only does it afford evidence 
before our eyes, evidence of which the senses can take 
cognizance ; but it is growing evidence. It is continu- 
ally augmenting and increasing, becoming more pon- 
derous and voluminous every year, and increasing in 
strength and convincing force every decade. At the 
advent of the Messiah it was considered strong and 
invincible, but since then many unfulfilled prophecies 
have found their fulfillment, and some new ones have 
been uttered which are now fulfilling before our eyes. 
The development of the "man of sin," " the son of 
perdition," added a new link, and made stronger the 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF NEW TESTAMENT. 157 

chain of divine predictions, and since the rise of 
Spiritualism and the organization of Infidelity, the 
evidence arising from fulfilled prophecy is stronger 
than it ever was before. Every step of the world's 
progress develops something that illustrates and con- 
firms the prophecies, and almost every page of history 
that is written records some fact that says to us, in 
unmistakable tones, that God abounded unto the 
apostles and prophets in all wisdom and prudence, 
having made known to them the mystery of his will 
according to his good pleasure. Pause ! Our conclu- 
sion is reached, That the New Testament is of Divine 
Origin, 



Note.— To the honest and sincere skeptic, and to others, I wish to say that 
candor compels me to confess that there are some difficulties in the way of 
the conclusion reached, that the bible is of divine origin; but those 
difficulties are not insurmountable, while there are insurmountable difficul- 
ties in the way of any other conclusion. The many wonderful cases of ful- 
filled prophecy, as well as the facts reverted to in the first chapter, are per- 
fectly inexplicable upon any hypothesis other than that the book contains a 
revelation, of which God is the fountain and the source. I wish further to 
say, that while I have in these pages established, as I verily believe, the 
claim of Scripture writers to inspiration, I commit myself to the defence of 
no theory OF inspiration. Be it especially noted that I do not claim the 
same degree of inspiration for the various parts of the Divine Volume. Nor 
do I deny the human element in the production of the book and its trans- 
mission to us. To say that the book, as we have it, is either entirely divine 
or wholly human, would be one-sided, ind«ed. But that it is of God to man 
and through man, for the glory of God and the good of man, is what the facts 
•ay, non ego. 



vSS£?t^ 



PART II. 

DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN 
RELIGION. 



H&W&& 



(159) 



Having proved in Part First that the Bible is of 
divine origin, it is altogether gratuitous on the part of 
the author to prove the divinity of the religion which 
it teaches. The divine origin of one being proved, 
the divine origin of the other necessarily follows. But 
I desire to add " line upon line, and precept upon pre- 
cept," that by "two immutable things" the reader 
may have strong confidence. I wish to go back to the 
starting place and reach the same point by a different 
road — establish the same conclusion by a different 
course of reasoning. I wish the reader, therefore, for 
the time being, to forget all that has been advanced in 
former chapters ; forget the wonderful similarity of 
Nature and the Bible ; forget the remarkable unity of 
the Great Yolume; forget all the astonishing instances 
of fulfilled prophecy adduced ; forget all that has been 
established ; and we will begin the Second Part just as 
though nothing had been proved. With these pre- 
liminaries, I proceed to adduce the proof that "The 
Religion of Jesus Christ is of Divine Origin" 



(160) 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 161 



CHAPTER i: 



The Historical Books of the New Testament are 
Credible and Trustworthy. 

fijY the historical books of the New Testament 
are meant, of course, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 



John and Acts of Apostles. 

And here, again, I enter upon a work that is 
wholly gratuitous. For every historical work that has 
been accepted as such by any considerable portion of 
mankind, must be considered as reliable and truthful, 
unless the contrary can be shown. Not only so, but 
it is a well established and undeniable principle of law 
that every witness must be presumed to be credible 
and competent, till the contrary can be shown. I 
could show that this principle will apply to the testi- 
mony of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and thus 
throw the onus probandi upon the Infidels. But, as 
one of the brightest lights that ever graced the legal 
profession has spoken on this point, I will give the 
reader the benefit of his matured thoughts. I refer to 
Simon Greenleaf, LL.D., author of a work on legal 
evidence, which is the leading authority on that sub- 



162 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

ject. In a work entitled " Testimony of the Evangel- 
ists," he says: — 

" Proceeding further, to inquire whether the facts related by the 
Four Evangelists are proved by competent and satisfactory evidence) 
we are led, first, to consider on which side lies the burden of estab- 
lishing the credibility of the witnesses. The very statement of 
such a question startles us, because, in the affairs of ordinary life, 
the uniform course is to presume every witness to be credible until 
the contrary is shown, the burden of proof lying on the objector. 
But this only serves to show the injustice with which the writers 
of the Gospels have ever been treated by Infidels; an injustice 
silently acquiesced in even by Christians ; in requiring the Chris- 
tian affirmatively, and by positive evidence, aliunde, to establish the 
credibility of his witnesses above all others, before their testimony 
is entitled to be considered, and in permitting the testimony of a 
single profane writer, alone and uncorroborated, to outweigh that 
of any single Christian. * * * It is time that this injustice 
should cease; that the testimony of the Evangelists should be 
admitted to be true, until it can be disproved by those who would 
impugn it; that the silence of one sacred writer, on any point, 
should no more detract from his own veracity or that of the other 
historians, than the like circumstance is permitted to do among 
profane writers ; and that the Four Evangelists should be admitted 
in corroboration of each other, as readily as Josephus and Tacitus, 
or Polybius and Livy." — Tes. Ev. pp. 24-26. See, also, Dr. Chal- 
mers^ Evidences, pp. 72-74. 

This able jurist also gives the logical line of argu- 
ment on the genuineness of these books, as follows: — 

" The genuineness of these writings really admits of as. little 
doubt, and is as susceptible of as ready proof as that of any ancient 
writings whatever. The rule of municipal law on this subject is 
familiar, and applies with equal force to all ancient writings, 
whether documentary or otherwise. 

''The first inquiry, when an ancient document is offered in evi- 
dence in our courts, is whether it comes from the proper repository; 
that is, whether it is found in the place where and under the care 
of persons with whom such writings might naturalty and reasonably 
be expected to be found; for it is this custody which gives authen- 
ticity to documents found within it. If they came from such a 
place and bear no evident marks of forgery, the law presumes that 
they are genuine, and they are admitted to be read in evidence, 
unless the opposing party is able successfully to impeach them. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 163 

" The burden of showing them to be false and unworthy of credit, 
is devolved on the party who makes that objection. The presump- 
tion of law is the judgment of charity. It presumes that every man 
is innocent until he is proved to be guilty; that everything has 
been done fairly and legally until it is proved to have been other- 
wise ; and that every document found in its proper repository and 
not bearing marks of forgery, is genuine. Now, this is precisely 
the case with the sacred writings. They have been used in the 
church from time immemorial, and thus are found in the place 
where alone they ought to be looked for." — Testimony of the Evan- 
gelists, pp. 7, 8. 

With reference to the objection that now we have 
only copies of the original, he says: — 

"If it be objected that the originals are lost, and that copies 
alone are now produced, the principes of the municipal law here 
also afford a satisfactory answer. * * * If any ancient 
documents concerning our public rights were lost, copies which 
had been as universally received and acted upon as the Four Gos- 
pels have been, would have been received in evidence in any of our 
courts of justice without the slightest hesitation. The entire text 
of the Corpus Juris Civilis is received as authority in all the courts 
of continental Europe upon much weaker evidence of its genuine- 
ness; for the integrity of the Sacred Text has been preserved by 
the jealousy of opposing sects beyond any moral possibility of 
corruption, while that of the Roman Civil Law has been preserved 
only by tacit consent, without the interests of any opposing school 
to watch over and preserve it from alteration. 

" These copies of the Holy Scriptures, having thus been in 
familiar use in the churches, from the time when the text was com- 
mitted to writing ; having been watched with vigilance by so many 
sects, opposed to each other in doctrine, yet all appealing to these 
Scriptures for the correctness of their faith; and having in all ages, 
down to this day, been respected as the authoritative source of all 
ecclesiastical power and government, and submitted to and acted 
under, in regard to so many claims of right on the one hand, and 
so many obligations of duty on the other; it is quite erroneous to 
suppose that the Christian is bound to offer any further proof of 
their genuineness or authenticity. It is for the objector to show them 
spurious; for on him, by the plainest rules of law, lies the burden of 
proof. If it were the case of a claim to a franchise, and a copy of 
an ancient deed or charter were produced in support of the title, 
under parallel circumstances, on which to presume its genuineness, 
no lawyer, it is believed, would venture to deny its admissibility in 
evidence, nor the satisfactory character of the proof." — "Testimony 
of the Evangelists, pp. 9, 10. 



164 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

But notwithstanding I am under no obligations what- 
ever to establish the claims of the Gospels and the Acts 
affirmatively, I nevertheless assume the laboring oar, 
and shall prove the credibility of these books just as 
an attorney proves the claims of his client in court. 
He relies, 1st, upon the testimony of his own witnesses ; 
2d, upon the admissions of witnesses on the opposite 
side; 3d, upon circumstantial evidence. And what- 
ever opposing attorneys may admit, is also so much 
in his favor. Christianity may be considered as the 
plaintiff in the case. Apostles, apologists, and all 
early Christian writers and speakers are witnesses for 
the plaintiff. Early Pagan, Jewish and Infidel writers, 
such as Tacitus, Josephus, Celsus and Julian, are 
opposing witnesses, brought into court to testify 
against Christianity. While modern Infidel writers 
and modern apologists may be considered as attorneys 
in the case. Such, then, is the order that I shall 
observe in adducing my evidence, I shall first intro- 
duce, briefly, the testimony of the friends of Christ ; 
secondly, consider the admissions of his enemies ; 
and, in the third place, weigh the circumstantial evi- 
dence bearing upon the credibility of the narratives in 
question. 

/. The testimony of the friends of Jesus. 

I deem it unnecessary to cite this part of the testi- 
mony at any great length, if indeed it were practicable 
to do so. I shall therefore be content with a very brief 
synopsis of the same. Also, I shall merely state this 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 165 

part of the evidence without making any effort to dis- 
cuss the same.* The credibility of histories may be 
established in two ways ; either by approving the 
books themselves, or by corroborating the facts 
recorded therein. The truthfulness of the ^ye books 
under consideration is attested in both those ways. 

According to the best sources of information these 
books were written at or near the following dates: 
Matthew, A. D. 42 ; Luke, A. D. 61 ; Acts, A. D. 63 ; 
Mark, A. D. 64; John, A. D. 97. At all events they 
were written during the first century. I remark fur- 
ther, with special reference to Luke and Acts, that they 
were written before Paul's release from his imprison- 
ment at Rome,. for Acts terminates abruptly by leav- 
ing him there, and Luke was written before Acts, the 
one being a continuation of the other. While these 
books are not mentioned by name during the century 
in which they were written, from the very nature of 
the case, their contents are powerfully confirmed and 
corroborated by apostolic epistles written during the 
same age. What these books record, the epistles 
assume as well known facts ; thus showing that these 
narratives possessed a solid basis of fact. 

Then come the fathers and apologists with abundant 
confirmations of the facts, and allusions to, and quota- 
tions from the books themselves. Quadratus, the first 



* For a more elaborate discussion of this branch of apologetics, the reader 
is referred to such works as " Genuineness and Authenticity of the Gospels," 
by Pres. Hinsdale, and " Reason and Revelation," by Pres. Milligan. 



166 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

apologist, who wrote in the close of the apostolic age, 
deposeth as follows : — 

" The works of our Savior were always conspicuous, for they 
were real; both they that were healed, and they that were raised 
from the dead, were seen not only when they were healed, or raised, 
but for a long time afterwards ; not only while he dwelled on this 
earth, but also after his departure, and for a good while after it; 
insomuch that many of them have reached to our times." 

Other early apologists followed with similar con- 
firmation: Aristides, A. D. 126; Justin, A. D. 139; 
Abercius, A. D. 150; Melito, A. D. 169 ; and Appolli- 
narious, A. D. 170. These apologies were presented 
to Roman Emperors, during times of persecution. 
The last two were presented respectively to Marcus 
Aurelius and M. Antonius. 

The Apostolic and Christian Fathers,* during the 
first and second centuries, quote very extensively from 
these books, and some of them mention them by name. 
Clement, of Rome, a fellow-laborer of the Apostle 
Paul, and mentioned by him in Philippians, iv:3, was 
an elder of the church in Rome, and wrote in the name 
of that congregation a letter to the congregation in 
Corinth, A. D. 96, in which he quotes three of the Gos- 
pels and Acts. 

The Epistle of Barnabas, written before John's Gos- 
pel, quotes Matthew and Luke, and greatly confirms 
these books in many respects. 



* The "Apostolic Fathers," are those that were contemporary with the 
Apostles; the " Christian Fathers" are those who flourished after the death 
of the Apostles. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 167 

v Matthew, Mark and John are quoted in a book called 
11 The Shepherd of Hennas," written about A. D. 100. 

Ignatius, a bishop of the church at Antioch, suffered 
martyrdom in Rome in the year of our Lord, 107. 
While on his way to that city, he wrote seven letters, 
in which he quotes Matthew, Luke, John and Acts. 
In one of those letters, addressed to the church at 
Smyrna, he speaks of some " whom neither the Proph- 
ecies nor the Law of Moses have persuaded ; nor yet 
the Gospel even to this day." — Lardner's Cred., vol. 
II., page 82. 

Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, wrote a letter to the 
church at Philippi, A. D. 108, in which he quotes 
Matthew and Acts. He also quotes I. John, and it is 
universally admitted by critics that the author of that 
epistle is also the author of the " Gospel of John." 

Papius, a bishop of the church at. Hierapolis, in 
Phrygia, some time before the middle of the second 
century, wrote a work in five books, entitled, " Inter- 
pretations of our Lord's Declarations." In the 39th 
chapter of the Third Book, he alludes to Matthew's 
production in these words : — 

"Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect, and every- 
one translated it as he was able." 

He speaks more at length of Mark, as follows : — 

"Mark being an interpreter of Peter, whatsoever he recorded he 
wrote with great accuracy, but not, however, in the order in which 
it was spoken or done by our Lord; but as before said, he was in 
company with Peter, who gave him such instruction as was neces- 
sary, but not to give a history of our Lord's discourses: wherefore 
Mark has not erred in anything, by writing some things as he 



168 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 

has recorded them ; for he was carefully attentive to one thing, not 
to pass by anything that he heard, or to state anything falsely 
in these accounts.'** 

The polished Infidel writer, M. Kenan, on the 20th 
page of his "Life of Jesus," makes this admission: 
"Certain it is that these two descriptions correspond 
very well to the general physiognomy of the two 
books now called ' The Gospel according to Matthew,' 
and * The Gospel according to Mark ; ' the first char- 
acterized by its long discourses ; the second, full of 
anecdote, much more exact than the first in regard to 
minute acts, brief to dryness, poor in discourses and 
badly composed." 

There were two translations of the New Testament 
made before the middle of the second century, one 
into Syriac, called the Peshito-Syriac ; the other into 
Latin, called the Itala. The first is still in existence, 
and contains the Four Gospels and Acts. The second 
gave place to Jerome's version, of which it was the 
basis, and there are now no remains of it except traces 
in the Vulgate, of which it was indirectly the basis ; 
but there is incontrovertible evidence that it contained 
each of these five historical books. The fact that both 
those old versions, made in different countries, and with- 
out any concert of action, contained, all these books 
is significant, showing that the Christians in all sec- 
tions regarded them as credible and trustworthy. 

* The general voice of antiquity is to the effect, that Peter was associated 
with Mark in the production of his book ; and this is no doubt true, as Mark 
was Peter's son. —I. Pet. v: 18. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 169 

In the year of Christ 139 Flavius Justinus, com- 
monly called Justin Martyr (because he suffered mar- 
tyrdom), presented to the Emperor Antonius Pius, a 
very elaborate apology, in the 66th chapter of which 
he says : — 

" For the Apostles, in the Memoirs composed by them, which are 
called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon 
them; that Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, said: 
1 This do ye in remembrance of me, this is my body;' and that after 
the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, he said : 
'This is my blood;' and gave it them alone." 

In the next chapter Justin describes the worship of 
the Christians : — 

"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or the coun- 
try gather together to one place, and the Memoirs of the Apostles 
or the writings of the Prophets are read as long as time permits ; 
then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, 
and exhorts to the imitation of these good things." 

This shows conclusively that before the middle of 
the Second Century these books were in use, and were 
read devotionally in the assemblies of the Christians. 

Passing over into the last half of the Second Century 
we find a bishop at Hierapolis, in Phrygia, named 
Claudius Appollinaris, deposing as follows : — 

"Some say that the Lord ate the lamb with his disciples on the 
14th, and suffered himself on the great day of unleavened bread; 
and they state that Matthew's narrative is in accordance with this 
view; while it follows that this view is at variance with the law, 
and according to them the Gospels seem to disagree." 

This shows that he was familiar with a plurality of 
authoritative Gospels; that one of these was Mat- 
thew ; and that one of them was John, for John is the 



170 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

only one that appears to conflict with Matthew in 
regard to the Passover. 

In the year 177 Athenagoras wrote two works which 
are still extant. He quotes Matthew, Luke and John. 

So current and familiar had the " Four Gospels " 
become by the middle of the latter half of the Second 
Century, that two Harmonies had been made of them; 
one by Theophilus, of Antioch, and the other by Tatian, 
of Syria. Jerome quotes from the first, remarking 
that Theophilus united " into one work the words of 
the Four Evangelists,' ' and "left for us monuments 
of his own mind." Eusebius speaks of the second, as 
follows : — 

" Tatian, having formed a certain body and collection of Gospels, 
I know not how, has given this the title Diatessaron, that is, the 
Gospel by the Four, or the Gospel formed of the Four." 

Theophilus also wrote an apology, which is still in 
existence, in which he mentions "the Gospels," and 
quotes one of them as follows : — 

"The holy writings teach us, and all the Spirit-bearing men, one 
of whom, John, says: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the 
Word was with God.' " — Theophilus Autolycus, chap. 22. 

Irenseus, student of Poly carp, and afterward Bishop 
of Lyons, in the latter part of the Second Century 
wrote a voluminous work, entitled, "Against Here- 
sies," in which he speaks of the Gospels in most 
explicit terms. As a sample, we quote the follow- 
ing:— 

" So firm Is the ground upon which these Gospels rest, that the 
very heretics themselves bear witness to them, and starting from 
these, each one endeavors to establish his own peculiar doctrine. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHEISTIAN RELIGION. 171 

For the Ebionites, who use Matthew's Gospel only, are confuted 
out of this very same, making false suppositions with regard to our 
Lord. But Marcion, mutilating that according to Luke, is proved 
to be a blasphemer of the only existing God, from [passages] which 
he still retains. Those, again, who separate Jesus from Christ, 
alleging that Christ remained impassible, but that it was Jesus 
who suffered, preferring the Gospel by Mark, if they read it with a 
love of truth, may have their errors rectified. Those, moreover, 
who follow Vaelentinus, making copious use of that according to 
John to illustrate their conjunctions, shall be proved to be totally 
in error by means of this very Gospel, as I have shown in the first 
book. Since, then, our opponents do bear testimony to us, and 
make use of these [Gospels] our proof derived from them is firm 
and true." 

We now cross the dividing line between the Second 
and Third Centuries; and, although we talk of cen- 
turies, let not the reader imagine that we are yet a 
very great distance from the Apostles, or that the dif- 
ference in time between the earliest and the latest 
writers quoted is so very remarkable. The last one 
introduced conversed with, and received instruction 
from, a man who had conversed with the Apostle John. 
Pres. Hinsdale presents this matter to the eye, by 
diagram, as follows: — 

"A. D. 

1 Christ... 33. 

John 98. 

79 Polycarp 167. 

140 IREN2EUS 202. 

M That is, between the birth of Irenaeus and the death of John 
only forty -two years intervened ; and between the birth of Polycarp 
and the death of Jesus, only forty-six. The life of Polycarp fills 
the first gap, overlapping Irenaeus twenty-seven years, and John 
nineteen years; while the life of John fills the second gap, over- 
lapping Polycarp nineteen years, and Jesus nearly the whole of his 
life." 

From Irenaeus, forward, there is an unbroken series 
of writers who continually refer to Acts and the Gos- 



172 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

pels, and quote extensively from them. Among the 
earliest of these, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria, 
stand pre-eminent. Tertullian was a Roman lawyer, 
who renounced Paganism and embraced Christianity. 
In the dawn of the Third Century he wrote a volumin- 
ous work, entitled, "Against Marcion," which is still 
extant. In the second chapter he says: — 

"Of the Apostles, therefore, John and Matthew first instill faith 
into us, whilst of Apostolic men, Lnke and Mark, renew it after- 
wards." 

Then after condemning Marcion for mutilating the 

Gospel of Luke and rejecting in toto the others, he 

continues : — 

"The same authority of the Apostolic Churches will afford evi- 
dence to the other Gospels also, which we possess equally through 
their means, and according to their' usage — I mean the Gospels of 
John and Matthew — whilst that which Mark published may be 
affirmed to be Peter's, whose interpreter Mark was. For even 
Luke's form of the Gospel men usually ascribe to Paul. And it 
may well seem that the works which disciples publish belong to 
their masters." 

He also states that the other three Gospels had 
"free course in the churches from the very begin- 
ning, " as well as Luke. Tischendorf argues with great 
force that the testimony of Irenaeus and Tertullian 
should not be taken as an isolated fact, but as a valid 
result of all the historic evidence at their command ; 
and the same reasoning will apply to the writings of 
others from whom we quote. Clement, of Alexandria, 
a contemporary of Tertullian, speaks of " the four 
Gospels which have been handed down to us," and 
elsewhere in his writings names them as Matthew, 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 173 

Mark, Luke and John, referring to them in the order 
in which they now stand. 

The eminent and indefatigable ecclesiastical histor- 
ian, Eusebius Pamphilus, who graced the close of the 
Third Century and the beginning of the Fourth, gave 
a summary statement of the New Testament books, 
and says : * 'Among the first must be placed the holy 
quarternion of the Gospels." The term " quarternion " 
shows that there were four. He also mentions them 
by name. He says of Matthew: — 

"Matthew, also, having first proclaimed the Gospel in Hebrew, 
when on the point of going to other nations, committed it to writ- 
ing in his native tongue, and thus supplied the want of his presence 
to them by his writings." — Book 3, chap. 25. 

He also explains the occasions which called the others 
into existence, giving Peter credit for furnishing data 
for Mark, and mentioning Paul as rendering like 
assistance to Luke. John, he says, was written to 
supply facts and discourses omitted by the other three. 

In passing through the Fourth Century we find a 
manuscript copy of these books called the Codex 
Sinaiticus. It is still in existence. 

During the Third and Fourth Centuries catalogues 
of the New Testament were formed, in all of which 
these five books find a place. The first of these cata- 
logues was made by Origen about the middle of the 
Third Century, and they were greatly multiplied dur- 
ing the Fourth Century — some being published in 
Europe, some in Asia, and some in Africa. A few of 
these were incomplete, leaving out some of the Epistles, 



174 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

but there was not one in the whole list minus any of 
the historical books; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 
and the Acts of Apostles found a place in all of them. 
But the evidence in the Third and Fourth Centuries 
that these books were then in existence and univer- 
sally received by the churches as historically correct 
and divinely authoritative is so abundant in quantity, 
and so overwhelming in quality, that I need pursue 
this line of testimony no further. 

The testimony of the witnesses on the Christain side 
of the controversy may be epitomized as follows: 
Christ came into the world and took upon himself 
human nature to benefit humanity. He was born in 
Judea, where he spent his life doing good. He taught 
as never man taught, and performed many prodigious 
miracles. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and 
buried in the tomb of Joseph. He arose from the dead, 
and ascended to heaven, whence he came. The apos- 
tles, being formerly commissioned by him, went forth 
and preached and performed wonders in his name. 
The books which record those things are historically 
correct. We will now see to what extent this testi- 
mony is corroborated by witnesses on the other side. 

II. The testimony of enemies and those unfriendly 
to Christ. 

The grand central circumstance, or rather center- 
stance, the existence of '* the Nazarene," and his won- 
derful character, is so universally admitted, and has 
made such a deep impress upon humanity, that 1 need 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 175 

not dwell on it, or summon witnesses to prove it. It 
is admitted by all Infidel writers of any consequence, 
from the tender and polished Renan, to the scurrilous 
and scoffing Paine. It is impossible for a man to deny 
it, without discarding the last vestige of ancient his- 
tory. Hence critics are unanimous at this point. 

Dr. W. H. Furness, writing altogether from a ration- 
alistic standpoint, says : — 

"It could have been no myth! — O, no! — that has so moved man- 
kind. Who that has ever lived, has penetrated like him, to the very 
center of our nature, and broken up the unfathomed depths of 
human wonder and veneration, kindling the imagination into such a 
flame about himself that the ascription to him of the incommunica- 
ble essence of the incomprehensible God has seemed to men no 
exaggeration? / could sooner question the existence of any other man, 
or of all other men, than his." 

That elegant but skeptical philosopher, John Stuart 
Mill, in discussing Christ as a man, thus speaks of 
him : — 

" Whatever else may be taken away from us by rational criticism, 
Christ is still left; a unique figure, not more unlike all his precur- 
ors than all his followers, even those who had the direct benefit 
of his personal teaching. It is of no use to say that Christ, as 
exhibited in the Gospel, is not historical, and that we know not how 
much of what is admirable has been super-added by the tradition of 
his followers. Who among his disciples or his proselytes, was 
capable of inventing the sayings ascribed to Jesus, or of imagining 
the life and character revealed in the Gospels? Certainly not the 
fishermen of Galilee; as certainly not St. Paul, whose character 
and idiosyncrasies were of a totally different sort ; still less the 
early Christian writers, in whom nothing is more evident than that 
the good which was in them was all derived, as they always pro- 
fess that it was derived, from a higher source. About the life and 
sayings of Jesus there is a stamp of personal originality combined 
with profundity of insight, which, if we abandon the idle specula- 
tion of finding scientific precision where something very different 
was aimed at, must place the prophet of Nazareth, even in the esti- 
mation of those who have no belief in his inspiration, in the very 
first rank of the men of sublime genius of whom our species can 
boast." 



176 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

And right here, it may not be out of place to make 
a quotation from Dr. Thomas Scott's "Answer to 
Paine 9 s Age of Reason: " — 

" The four Evangelists have done, without appearing to have 
intended it, what was never performed by any authors before 
or since. They have drawn a perfect human character without a 
single flaw! They have given the history of One whose spirit, words 
and actions, were in every part what they ought to have been; who 
always did the very thing that was proper, and in the best manner 
imaginable; who never once deviated from the most consummate 
wisdom, purity, benevolence, compassion, meekness, humility, for- 
titude, patience, piety, zeal, and every other excellence ; and who 
in no instance let one virtue or holy disposition entrench on an- 
other; but exercised them all in entire harmony and exact propor- 
tion ! The more the Evangelists are examined, the clearer this will 
appear, * * * Without labor or affectation they have 
effected what hath baflled all others, who have set themselves pur- 
posely to accomplish it." 

Jewish teachers never pretend to deny the person- 
ality of Jesus. That distinguished Kabbi, Dr. E. B. M. 
Browne, who has for years had a debate pending with 
the author of this work, which was first postponed 
on account of his being sent as a delegate to the 
World's Scientific Congress, Stockholm, Sweden, and 
afterward on account of sickness, etc., admits that 
there was such a person as Jesus, and that his teachings 
are entitled to profound respect. The Indianapolis 
Sentinel, Jan. 17th, 1875, in reporting his great lec- 
ture on the "Talmud," says of Eabbi Browne: — ■ 

"While he does not accept Christ as a Eedeemer, he believes 
most cordially in His doctrines and wants the Bible retained in the 
public schools. The audience filled the hall, and was enthusiastic 
in its applause. Many of his own people, includiug the Rabbi 
Messing, were present, and heartily joined the Christians present 
in seconding his plea for more liberality among religionists." 

Several leading Infidel writers could be cited who 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 177 

admit that the Gospels and Acts are credible history 
in the main, but as they are related to the case more 
as attorneys than witnesses, we will let them be heard 
last. I will first adduce the testimony of ancient 
Infidels and unbelieving historians. They confirm the 
Christian testimony in two ways ; first, by corrobor- 
ating the facts contained in Gospel narratives ; sec- 
ond, by referring to and quoting the books them- 
selves. I shall make no effort to separate the two 
species of evidence. 

The first witness I shall introduce is Flavins 
Josephus, * a Jewish historian, so well known that he 
needs no introduction, and one that we had upon the 
witness stand while examining the prophecies of the 
Old Testament in Part First. His first corroboration 
is in reference to the character and death of John the 
Baptist, and facts connected therewith. He speaks 
of a difference between Aretas, King of Petra, and 
Herod, growing out of the fact that Herod had married 
the daughter of Aretas, and lived a considerable time 
with her. But, in a journey he took to Rome, he 
made a visit to Herod, his brother, though not by the 
same mother. Here falling in love with Herodias, 
wife of the same Herod, daughter of their brother 
Aristobulus, and sister of Agrippa the Great, he ven- 
tured to make proposals of marriage to her. She 
agreed that when he was returned from Rome she 



* I quote from Whiston's translation, published by T. Nelson & Sons, Lon- 
don, Edinburgh, and New York, 1878. 
12 



178 HAND-BOOK Or CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

would go and live with him. And it was one part 

of the contract that Aretas' daughter should be put 

away. This was the beginning of the difference ; and 

there being also some disputes about the limits of their 

territories, a war arose between Aretas and Herod. 

And in a battle fought by them, Herod's whole army 

was defeated. He then says : — 

"Now, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's 
army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what 
he did against John that was called the Baptist; for Herod slew 
him who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise 
virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety 
towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing 
[with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, 
not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins 
[only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that 
the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. 
Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were 
greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who 
feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put 
it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion (for they 
seemed ready to do anything he should advise) , thought it best, 
by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, 
and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might 
make him repent of it when it should be too late. Accordingly, he 
was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Mache- 
rus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now 
the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army Was sent 
as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure 
against him." — Ant., book 18, chap. 5, sec. 2. 

This is unquestionably genuine. It is quoted by 
Origen in debate with Celsus, by Eusebius, and by 
Jerome. It is regarded as genuine by the most dis- 
tinguished critics and antiquarians. 

Josephus also alludes to Christ in mentioning the 

death of James : — 

■ 

" And now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus 
iuto Judea, as procurator; but the king deprived Joseph of the high- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 179 

priesthood, and bestowed the succession of that dignity on the son 
of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus. Now the report 
goes, that this elder Ananus proved a most fortunate man ; for 
he had five sons, who had all performed the office of a high-priest 
to God, and he had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time for- 
merly, which had never happened to any other of our high-priests; 
but this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took 
the high-priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very inso- 
lent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who arc very rigid 
in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have 
already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, 
he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his au- 
thority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the 
road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought be- 
fore them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name 
was James, and some others, [or some of his companions] ; and 
when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the 
law, he delivered them to be stoned; but as for those who seemed 
the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most un- 
easy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done." — Ant., 
book 20, chap. 9, sec. 1. 

There is another allusion to James which is proba- 
bly spurious, but this is genuine. It was read by 
Eusebius and Photius, and is found in all copies of 
the "Antiquities." 

There is another passage in Josephus which is often 
referred to and quoted by Christians, but I do not use 
it, because its genuineness is involved in some doubt, 
and I am not willing to introduce into the premises of 
my argument any doubtful material, desiring my con- 
clusion to rest upon unimpeachable facts. I allude to 
the celebrated passage concerning the death and resur- 
rection of Jesus.* My cause is just as strong without 
it. Leave it out and you have the case of a Jewish 
historian unwilling to mention the acts of his most 

• See Appendix, A. 



180 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

illustrious countryman, yet forced to allude to him in 
connection with James, because unable to record the 
history of his country without so doing. Its absence 
would even make a stronger argument for Christianity 
than its presence ; for with it we have only a brief 
allusion to Christ, where we should have whole pages 
devoted to his career ; but without it we have in the 
passage about James an involuntary allusion to Christ, 
where none was intended, showing that he had made 
such a wonderful impress upon the generation in which 
he lived, that the historian incidentally mentions his 
name while studiously endeavoring to avoid giving any 
account of him. . 

The facts recorded in the passages relative to John the 
Baptist, and James the Just, are admitted by Dr. 
Wise, the learned Jewish Eabbi, of Cincinnati. He 
says of the Jews: "They cursed Herod when he 
slew John the Baptist ; they cursed Ananias when he 
slew James/' — Three Lectures on tlie Origin of Chris- 
tianity, page 11, 

On page 4 he speaks of John at considerable length, 
and endorses the account given by Josephus. And on 
page 20, he speaks of James, the brother of Jesus, 
and says he was slain by the high-priest, Ananias, in 
62 or 63. Here, then, are two important events in 
Christian history attested by unbelieving Jewish au- 
thority. 

The question is sometimes asked, "Why did not 
Philo say something about these things ?' ' Let the 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 181 

Infidel, Kenan, answer. He saysPhilo lived " in quite 
another province of Judaism,' * * and then adds: — 

"He was sixty-two years old when the prophet of Nazareth was 
at his highest activity, and he survived him at least ten years. 
What a misfortune that the chances of life did not lead him into 
Galilee! What would he not have taught us!" — Life of Jesus, 
p. 13. 

In the next place, I will introduce the testimony of 
the celebrated Roman historian, Caius Cornelius 
Tacitus, who was born about the year of our Lord 
62, and wrote his " Annals " soon after the year 100. 
He undoubtedly began the collection of his materials 
before the end of the First Century. Let us hear 
him: — 

" But neither all human help, nor the liberality of the emperor, 
nor all the atonements presented to the gods, availed to abate the 
infamy he lay under of having ordered the city to be set on fire. 
To suppress, therefore, this common rumor, Nero procured others 
to be accused and inflicted exquisite punishment upon those 
people who were in abhorrence for their crimes, and were com- 
monly known by the name of Christians. They had their denomin- 
ation from one Christus, who, in the reign of Tiberius, was put to 
death as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate. This perni- 
cious superstition, though checked for a while, f broke out again 
and spread not only over Judea, the source of this evil, but reached 
the city also; whither flow from all quarters all things vile and 
shameful, and where they find shelter and encouragement. At first 
they were only apprehended who confessed themselves of that sect; 
afterwards a vast multitude discovered, all of which were con- 
demned, not so much for the crime of burning the city as for their 
enmity to mankind. Their executions were so contrived as to ex- 
pose them to derision and contempt. Some were covered over 
with the skins of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs ; some 
were crucified; others, having been daubed over with combustible 
materials, were set up as lights in the night time, and thus burned 

* At Alexandria, In Egypt. 

t Dr. Wise represents Tacitus as saying it was checked for "some years." 
But notice, he does not say so; but speaks indefinitely: "checked for 
awhile." 



182 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

to death. Nero made use of his own gardens as a theatre on this 
occasion, and also exhibited the diversions of the circus, some- 
times standing in the crowd as a spectator, in the habit of a 
charioteer; at other times driving a chariot himself; till at length 
these men, though really criminals and deserving exemplary punish- 
ment, began to be commiserated as a people who were destroyed, 
not out of regard to the public welfare, but only to gratify the 
cruelty of one man." — Annals, book 15, ch. 14. 

This happened in 64, about thirty years after the 
death of Christ. Few Infidels will be so unreasonable 
as to question the genuineness of this passage. The 
English historian, Gibbon, though an Infidel himself, 
has the fairness and candor to say : — 

" The most skeptical criticism is obliged to respect the truth of 
this extraordinary fact, and the integrity of this celebrated pas- 
sage of Tacitus. The former is confirmed by the diligent and 
accurate Suetonius, who mentions the punishment which Nero 
inflicted on the Christians, a sect of men who had embraced a new 
and criminal superstition." — Decline and Fall of the Boman Umpire, 
chap. 16, p. 19. 

Such bloody scenes of persecution are alluded to by 
the Spanish poet, Martial, a celebrated writer of epi- 
grams in the First Century. His lines may be trans- 
lated as follows : — 

" You have seen acted in theatres for hire, 
Mucius, who thrust his hand into the fire. 
If such an one you think patient, valiant, stout, 
You a silly dotard are, and of sense without! 
For 'tis a thing of greater note, 
When threatened with the troublesome coat, 
To say, * I sacrifice not ! ' and firm to stand ! 
Than obey the mandate ' Burn the hand.' *' 

—Martial L. 10, Epigram 26. 

The "troublesome coat" was made of coarse linen 
cloth, in the shape of a sack or shirt, and besmeared 
with such combustible materials as wax, rosin, tar and 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 183 

sulphur. It is alluded to by the poet Juvenal, in such 
words as these : — 

" But if that hone6t license now you take, 
Such rogues as Tigellinum to rake, 
Death is your doom, impaFd upon a stake, 
Smeared o'er with wax and set on lire to light 
The streets, and make a brilliant blaze by night! '* 

— Juvenal, Satire I., ver. 166. 

In order to have a proper conception of the facts 
attested by Josephus, the reader should picture to him- 
self " a just man " addressing multitudes on the banks 
of the Jordan, and calling upon them to reform and 
be baptized ; then picture an officer of Herod thrust- 
ing him into prison; then in mental vision see the iron 
door of the prison opened, see John led forth, see his 
head laid upon the block, the sword drawn, one blow 
and his head is in the hand of the bloody executioner. 
Then picture another "just man," after years have 
passed, and others with him, being stoned to death, by 
order of the high-priest. 

Then to properly realize the testimony of Tacitus ; 
see Christ in Judea preaching a new religion; picture 
him before Pilate receiving sentence of death ; 
picture him in the agonies of death upon a cross; 
picture all quiet for days and weeks; then see his 
religion break out again ; picture his friends traveling 
all over Judea preaching the system that Christ insti- 
tuted ; then picture them going into Gentile countries, 
even to Rome ; picture vast multitudes embracing the 
new faith; see Rome on fire ; behold it blazing seven 



184 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

successive nights; picture the gossippers the next 
morning around the smouldering ruins, discussing the 
origin of the fire ; see Madam Eumor passing round , 
dropping in at every gate, and telling the people that 
Nero burned it ; picture his officers going round appre- 
hending Christians ; see the streets and the gardens of 
Nero lighted with Christians fastened to stakes and 
covered with combustible material ! Such mental pic- 
tures will enable you to realize, in no small degree, 
the testimony of the leading Jewish and Pagan his- 
torians. 

As I am now examining witnesses on the opposite 
side, I wish the reader to notice whenever a statement 
of any Christian witness is corroborated, whether such 
witness wrote in the New Testament or out of it ; but 
I shall call particular attention whenever any fact re- 
corded in the historical books under consideration, is 
admitted or corroborated. We have at least seven such 
right here in the testimony of Tacitus and Josephus : — 

1st. The work and character of John the Baptist. 

2d. His imprisonment; and that he was put to 
death by order of Herod. 

3d. That the Christian religion was founded by 
Jesus Christ in Judea. 

4th. That Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate, 
which checked his movement for a while. 

5th. That some time after his death it received a 
new impetus, which caused it to spread most rapidly 
throughout Judea, and even into Gentile countries. 



DIVINE OKIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 185 

6th. That it was first embraced by Jews and then 
by Gentiles. 

7th. That the followers of Christ were persecuted, 
and some of them martyred, by both Jews and 
Pagans. 

Qaius Suetonius Tranquittus shall be heard next. 
He is commonly called Suetonius. He flourished dur- 
ing the reigns of Trajan and Adrian, and was secretary 
to the latter. He wrote near the year 120. In his 
life of the Emperor Claudius, who reigned from A. D. 
41 during the decade ending with 51, he says: — 

" He banished the Jews from Rome, who were continually mak- 
ing disturbances, Chrestus being their leader." 

Whether this refers to Christ or not, it is an un- 
doubted corroboration of a passage in Acts of Apostles, 
which reads as follows : — 

"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to 
Corinth ; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, 
lately come from Italy, Avith his wife Priscilla; (because that 
Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome;) and 
came unto them." — Acts, xviii:2. 

In his life of Nero, who reigned from 54 to 68, 
Suetonius says : — 

"The Christians were punished; a sort of men of a new and 
magical superstition." 

Here we have an additional confirmation of the fact 
that the Christians suffered persecution, and a hint 
that the founders of the system claimed something 
miraculous, which the historian alludes to as magical. 



186 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Suetonius also furnishes us a fact, which I put down in 
my list of corroborations as : — 

8th. That Claudius banished Jews from Eome. — 
Acts, xviii : 2. 

I must here note another confirmation of Acts, which 
Tacitus furnishes, as well as Suetonius and others : — 

9th. That the followers of Jesus were called Chris- 
tians. — Acts, xi: 26. 

Caius Plinius CceciL'u* Secundus, commonly called 
Pliny, the Younger, in the year 107, wrote to the 
Emperor Trajan to learn how to conduct the trial of 
Christians. After expressing doubts as to the method 
to be pursued, he continues : — 

"In the meantime, I have taken this course with all who have 
been brought before me and have been accused as Christians. I 
have put the question to them, whether they were Christians. 
Upon their confessing to me that they were, I repeated the ques- 
tion a second and third time, threatening also to punish them with 
death. Such as still persisted, I ordered away to be punished ; for 
it was no doubt with me, whatever might be the nature of their 
opinion, that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy ought to be pun- 
ished. There were others of the same infatuation, whom, because 
they were Roman citizens, I have noted down to be sent to the city. 

" In short, the crime spreading itself even whilst under persecu- 
tion, as is usual in such cases, divers sorts of people came in my way. 
An information was presented to me without mentioning the author, 
containing the names of many persons, who, upon examination, 
denied that they were Christians, or had ever been so; who re- 
peated after me an invocation to the gods, and with wine and frank- 
incense made supplication to your image, which for that purpose I 
have caused to be brought and set before them, together with the 
statues of the deities. Moreover, they reviled the name of Christ. 
None of which things, as is said, they who are really Christians, can 
by any means be compelled to do. These, therefore, I thought 
proper to discharge. 

" Others were named by an informer, who at first confessed them- 
selves Christians, and afterwards denied it. The rest said they had 
been Christians, but had left them; some three years ago, 'some 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 187 

longer, and one or more above twenty years. They all worshipped 
your image, and the statues of the gods ; these also reviled Christ. 
They affirmed that the whole of their fault or error lay in this, that 
they were wont to meet together on a stated day, before it was 
light, and sing among themselves alternately a hymn to Christ, as a 
god, and bind themselves by an oath, not to the commission of any 
wickedness, but not to be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery, 
never to falsify their words, nor to deny a pledge committed to 
them when called upon to return it. When these things were per- 
formed, it was their custom to separate, and then to come together 
again to a meal, which they ate in common, without any disorder; 
but this they have foreborne. since the publication of my edict, by 
which, according to your commands, I prohibited assemblies. 

"After receiving this account, I judged it the more necessary to 
examine, and that by torture, two maid -servants, which were called 
deaconesses. But I have discovered nothing beside a bad and 
excessive superstition. 

"Suspending, therefore, all judicial proceedings, I have recourse 
to you for advice ; for it has appeared to me a matter highly deserv- 
ing, especially upon account of the great number of persons who 
are in danger of suffering. For many of all ages, and every rank, 
of both sexes likewise, are accused and will be accused. Nor has 
the contagion of this superstition seized cities only, but the lesser 
towns also, and the open country. Nevertheless it seems to me 
that it may be restrained and corrected. It is certain that the tem- 
ples which were almost forsaken, begin to be more frequented; 
and the sacred solemnities, after a long intermission, are revived. 
Victims, likewise, are everywhere bought up, whereas for some 
time there were few purchasers; whence it is easy to imagine that 
numbers of men might be reclaimed, if pardon were granted to those 
who shall repent." 

Trajan wrote a reply in which he informed Pliny 
that he pursued the proper course, and upon the facts 
presented, issued an edict. Gibbon notices this cor- 
respondence at length, and says : — 

"The answer of Trajan, to which the Christians of the succeed- 
ing ages have frequently appealed, discovers as much regard for 
justice and humanity as could be reconciled with his mistaken 
notions of religious policy." 

In addition to the confirmation they give of facts 
already cited from others, and among other important 



188 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

statements, Pliny and Trajan furnish us the following 
additional corroborations : — 

10th. That Christianity spread rapidly in spite of 
persecution. 

11th. That it was irreconcilably opposed to Pagan 
idolatry. 

12th. That those who were really Christians adhered 
to their principles with firmness and inflexibility even 
in the face of death. 

13th. That they met at stated intervals for worship. 

14th. That the singing of hymns was a part of their 
worship. 

15th. That their religion was utterly opposed to 
theft, lying, and all manner of wickedness. 

16th. That they had deaconesses in their congrega- 
tions. 

In the discourses of Epictetus, in the year 109, re- 
ported by his disciple, Arrian, there are two allusions 
to the Christians. In the first the philosopher blames 
those who assume a profession of philosophy, or any 
other character without living up to it. And as an 
illustration he says : — 

" When we see a man inconstant to his principles, we say he is 
not a Jew, but only pretends to be so ; but when he has the temper 
of a man dipped, and professed, then he is indeed, and is called a 
Jew." 

He evidently alludes to Christian Jews, for none 
others professed and were dipped! 

In the other passage Epictetus is speaking of fear- 
lessness and inquires : — 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 189 

" Is it possible that a man may arrive at this temper, and become 
indifferent to those things from madness, or from habit, as the 
Galileans, and yet that no one should be able to know by reason and 
demonstration that God made all things in the world? " 

The Christians were frequently called Galileans. 

We have here at least one valuable corroboration : — 

17th. That the early converts professed and were 
baptized, and were then expected to exhibit the proper 
temper afterward. 

Publius Elius Adrianus, Koman Emperor, will now 
take the witness stand. After apologies had been pre- 
sented to him by Quadratus and Aristides, near 126 
A. D., he wrote a letter to Minucius Fundanus moder- 
ating and restricting the persecution against the Chris- 
tians, which I deem it unnecessary to quote. In the 
year 134, while in Egypt, he wrote a letter to his 
brother-in-law as follows : — 

" Adrian Augustus to the Consul Servianus wisheth health. I 
have found Egypt, my dear Servianus, which you commended to 
me, all over fickle and inconstant, and continually shaken by the 
slightest reports of fame. The worshippers of Serapis are Chris- 
tians, and they are devoted to Serapis, who call themselves Christ's 
bishops. There is no ruler of the Jewish synagogue, no Samari- 
tan, no presbyter of the Christians, no mathematician, no sooth- 
sayer, no anointer; even the patriarch, if he should come to Egypt, 
would be required by some to worship Serapis, by others Christ. 
A seditious and turbulent sort of men. However, the city is rich 
and populous. Nor are any idle. Some are employed in making 
glass, others paper, others in weaving linen. They have one God — 
him the Christians, him the Jews, him all the Gentile people 
worship." 

The Emperor Adrian, in addition to adding the 
weight of his testimony to facts already elicited, fur- 
nishes us another corroboration of New Testament his- 
tory : — 



190 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

18th. That the Christians had bishops or presbyters. 

Pliny notices the deacons, and Adrian the bishops 
of Christian communities, showing that their church 
government was known, and discoursed of, by Roman 
rulers, within one lifetime of the crucifixion of Christ. 

In the year 165, or according to others, 169, an ec- 
centric philosopher named Peregrinus, and frequently 
called Proteus, publicly burnt himself in Greece for 
the sake of notoriety. Lucian, of Samosata, in Syria, 
wrote a letter to one Cronius, giving a history of this 
remarkable individual, in which he says, he rambled 
from place to place, and from one sect of philosophy 
to another, till finally he " learned the wonderful doc- 
trines of the Christians," with which he identified him- 
self for a while. He then continues : — 

" They, therefore, still worship that great man who was crucified 
in Palestine, because he introduced into the world this new religion. 
Tor this reason Proteus was taken up and put into prison ; which 
very thing was of no small service to him afterwards, for giving 
reputation to his impostures, and gratifying his vanity. The Chris- 
tians were much grieved for his imprisonment, and tried many 
ways to procure his liberty. Not being able to effect that, they did 
him all sorts of kind offices, and that not in a careless manner, but 
with the greatest assiduity; for even betimes in the morning there 
would be at the prison, old women, some widows, and also little 
orphan children ; and some of the chief of their men, by corrupting 
the keepers, would get into the prison, and stay the whole night 
there with him ; there they had a good supper together, and their 
sacred discourses. And this excellent Peregrinus (for so he was 
still called) was thought by them to be an extraordinary person, no 
less than another Socrates; even from the cities of Asia some 
Christians came to him, by order of the body, to relieve^ encourage, 
and comfort him. For it is incredible what expedition they use 
when any of their friends are known to be in trouble. In a word, 
they spare nothing upon such an occasion ; and Peregrinus' chain 
brought him in a good sum of money from them; for these miser- 
able men have no doubt but they shall be immortal, and live for- 



DIVINE ORIGIN Or CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 191 

ever; therefore they contemn death, and many surrender them- 
selves to sufferings. Moreover their first lawgiver has taught them 
that they are all brethren, when once they have turned and re- 
nounced the gods of the Greeks, and worship that master of theirs 
who was crucified, and engage to live according to his laws. They 
have also a sovereign contempt for all the things of this world, and 
look upon them as common, and trust one another with them with- 
out any particular security ; for which reason any subtle fellow, 
by good management, may impose upon this simple people and 
grow rich among them. But Peregrinus was set at liberty by the 
Governor of Syria, who was a favorer of philosophy: who per- 
ceiving his madness, and that he had a mind to die, in order to get 
a name, let him out, not judging him so much as worthy of punish- 
ment." 

Lucian, after saying that he returned to his native 

place, Parium, and was well supplied by the Christians, 

etc., concludes: — 

11 Thus it went with them for some time. At length they parted, 
he having given them some offence, by eating (as I suppose) some 
things not allowed by them." 

This is a wonderful confirmation of the New Testa- 
ment history. In addition to the facts to be learned 
from him, in common with other writers quoted, I 
cite the following special corroborations : — 

19th. That the Christians were noted for their kind- 
ness in relieving the wants of those in need or in dis- 
tress. 

20th. That in becoming Christians, they had to en- 
gage to live according to the teachings of Christ. 

21st. That he taught them that they were all breth- 
ren. " All ye are brethren.' ' Mat. xxiii : 8. 

2 2d. That they believed in immortality without a 
doubt. 

Much more might be quoted from Pagan authorities, 
but I forbear for want of space; and will proceed 



192 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

to adduce a few quotations from the Jewish Talmud.* 

Though it is a strange compilation, as Mr. Eenan truly 

says, where some precious information is mingled with 

the most insignificant scholasticism. This skeptical, 

though polished and fair-minded writer, remarks 

further: "The two Gemaras borrow most of their 

notions concerning Jesus, from burlesque and obscene 

legends, invented by the adversaries of Christianity, 

and of no historic value.' ' See Life of Jesus, page 

16, and page 364, foot note. 

Dr. Isaac M. Wise, a learned Jewish Rabbi, says : 

" The Talmud often mentions the name of Jesus." 

Then after saying that it mentions Rabbi Joshua, with 

whom he was in Egypt, his disciples, and an original 

Hebrew Gospel, he continues : — 

" Those passages of the Talmud to which we refer bear the names 
and the stamp of prominent cotemporaries of Jesus and the 
Apostles. This settles the question. Had those rabbis considered 
Jesus an ignoramus, or a mere impostor, they must have said so 
somewhere; but they did not." — Origin of Christianity, p. 8. 

Lightf oot quotes as follows : — 

"When Jannay, the king, slew the Eabbins, E.Joshua, ben Pera- 
chiah, and Jesus went away unto Alexandria in Egypt." — Bab. 
Sanhedr., folio 107a. 

Lightf oot again quotes the Gemara, as follows : — 

"K. Eliezer said to the wise men, 'But did not the Son of Satda 
bring magical arts out of Egypt, in a cutting in his flesh? ' The 
gloss, says: 'The reason of that was that he could not bring them 
away in writing, because the priests diligently searched all at their 
going away that they might not carry out magical arts to teach 
them to men dwelling in other countries.' " 

* The first part of the Talmud is called the Mishna, and the second the 
Gemara. See "Milligan's Reason and Revelation," p. 206. There are two, 
the Jerusalem and the Babylonian. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OiT CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 196 

He then quotes an illusion to the martyrdom of five 
of Christ's disciples. 

The following passage from the Talmud is quoted 

by Dr. Lardner : — 

" R. Akiba and Rabbi Eliezer are talking together. Eliezer says, 
1 Akiba, you have brought something to my mind. As I was 
walking in the high streets of Zipporus, I met one of the disciples 
of Jesus of Nazareth, whose name is James, a man of the town of 
Shecaniah. He said to me, ' In your law it is written, Thou shalt 
not bring the hire of a harlot.' — (Deut. xxiii: 18.) I did not 
make him any answer. But he added and said to me, ' Jesus of 
Nazareth taught me the meaning.' ' She gathered it of the hire of 
a harlot; and they shall return to the hire of a harlot.' — (Mic. i: 
7.) ' From an impure place they came, and to an impure place they 
shall return.' ' Which interpretation,' says Eliezer, 'did not dis- 
please me.'" 

The Gemara, of Babylon, says: — 

" The tradition is that on the evening of the Passover, Jesus was 
hanged, and that a crier went before him for forty days making 
this proclamation: ' This man comes forth to be stoned, because 
he hath dealt in sorceries, and persuaded and seduced Israel. Who- 
soever knoweth of any defence for him, let him come forth and 
produce it.' But no defence could be found ; therefore they hanged 
him upon the evening of the Passover." 

The Gemara, commenting on the 13th chapter of 

Deuteronomy, speaks of persons being put to death 

for seducing Israel from the true religion, and adds: — 

" So they did to the Sou of Satda in Lud, and hanged him on 
the evening of the Passover. Rabbi Chasdi said, ' The son of Satda 
is the son of Pandira. His mother was Stada. She was Mary, the 
plaiter of women's hair; as we say in Pompedita, she departed 
from her husband.' " 

Let us hear Dr. Wise again. What a Jewish Kabbi 

says concerning the Talmud will have weight. He 

says : — 

"Young Paul, or Acher, the Talmud maintains, had always a 
Grecian poem on his lips. When he rose in the academy, many a 
Greek book dropped from his lap." 
13 



194 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

That, the Rabbi informs us, was when he was in the 
School of Gamaliel. This scholarly Israelite con- 
tinues : — 

"In the rabbinical literature, several successes of the apostles 
are noticed, especially at Capernaum and Capersamia. One of them 
is most remarkable, viz. : the conversion of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyr- 
con by the Apostle James. This rabbi, the Talmud narrates, was 
actually arrested by Roman officers, and in obedience to the edict 
against Christianity, was accused of the crime of being a Christian, 
which he did not deny, although he repented it. The most impor- 
tant success, however, upon which the apostles could boast, was 
the conversion of Paul." — Origin of Christianity , p . 21 . 

On the 24th page, of the same work, the Rabbi 
continues : — 

" Paul is an open book in history. We have his genuine epistles 
in which he gives considerable account of himself and his exploits. 
We have one portion of the Acts, in which, contrary to the balance 
of that book, the author narrates in the first person plural 'we,' 
which appears to be taken from the notes of one of Paul's compan- 
ions, Luke, Timothy, Silas, or any other. Then we have the Tal- 
mud with its numerous anecdotes about Acher, as the rabbis called 
Paul, which are of inestimable value to the historian." 

The above quotations show that the Talmuds cor- 
roborate the Gospels and Acts in many important par- 
ticulars. We add to our increasing list a few of those 
corroborations : — 

23d. That the mother of Jesus was named Mary. 

24th. That Jesus, at some period of his life, was in 
Egypt. 

25th. That at a very early date there was a " Gos- 
pel,' ' giving an account of Christ's life, written in the 
Hebrew language. 

26th, That Christ dwelt in Nazareth, and was called 
Jesus of Nazareth. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 195 

27th. That he had numerous disciples or apostles. 

28th. That Paul was brought up at the feet of the 
learned Gamaliel. 

29th. That Jesus performed wonders, by the rab- 
bins attributed to magic. 

30th. That Jesus was put to death at the time of 
the Passover. 

31st. That some of the leading men among the Jews 
were converted to his new religion, including Paul, of 
Tarsis. 

32d. That much of the history in Acts is corrobor- 
ated by the Talmud. 

I will now adduce the corroborative testimony of a 
different class of writers. Men who were not only 
unbelievers, like the others from whom I have quoted, 
but were active and bitter enemies of the Christian 
religion; men who took up the pen against it, and 
opposed it with all the logic, rhetoric, wit, ridicule, 
and sophistry that they could command. They were 
Infidel writers in the truest sense of the word. Among 
those early writers who wrote against the Christian 
religion, Celsus, Porphyry and Julian stand pre-emin- 
ent. They expected, like some of their disciples in 
modern times, to overthrow the Christian religion by 
their writings. As persecution failed, and the blood 
of the martyrs proved to be the seed of the church, 
they conceived the idea that " the pen is mightier than 
the sword," and that, in their hands, the stylus would 



196 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

accomplish what, in the hands of others, all the imple- 
ments of persecution and death had utterly failed to 
perform ! But what has been the result ? Christianity 
outlives their feeble efforts to overthrow it, and their 
writings against it have utterly perished, except such 
portions as have been saved by the friends of the sys- 
tem which they labored to destroy. And such of their 
writings as are preserved in the books of others now 
afford very strong proof in favor of the religion they 
were designed to confute ! 

Celsus was the earliest writer of this class. His 
book against the Christians, entitled the "True 
Word," was produced soon after the middle of the 
Second Century — certainly not later than 176. 
Alexander Campbell says of him : "Of all that ever 
wrote against the Christians, Celsus, not merely be- 
cause he wrote first, but because of his standing, 
talents, and opportunities of assailing the cause, is 
most deserving of being heard. Everything was then 
fresh and easy of investigation ; he had the best oppor- 
tunities, and could select the best means of exposing 
its falsehood, if falsehood there were in it. He, how- 
ever, contrary to his wishes, has done more to estab- 
lish the invincible truths of the gospel, than any advo- 
cate of Christianity that has lived since his day." 

Celsus quotes or alludes to each of the books under 
consideration — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and 
Acts — besides several of the Epistles, which it is not 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 197 

our province to notice. The first quotation I make 
from him is a general allusion to the Gospels : * — 

" I could say many things concerning the affairs of Jesus, and 
those too true, different from those written by the disciples of 
Jesus; but I purposely omit them." — Book 2, sec. 13, p. 67. 

Here these books are admitted to have been written 
by the disciples of Jesus ; consequently, their genuine- 
ness is not disputed by Celsus. 

Again he says : — 

"Some of the believers, as if they were drunk, take a liberty to 
alter the Gospel from the first writing." — Book 2, p. 77. 

This shows that the first writings of the disciples 
concerning the acts of Jesus were called " the Gos- 
pels." And that it was considered wrong to alter 
them. It is, also, a confirmation of the statement of 
Christian writers that such heretics as Marcion and 
Valentinus changed the Gospels to make them accord 
with their opinions. Celsus, of course, had the origi- 
nal and genuine Gospels, admitted to be such by all 
parties, or he could not have known that any change 
had been made. 

Celsus makes another general allusion to these books, 
in the following language : — 

11 These things we have alleged to you out of your own writings, 
not needing other witnesses." — Book 2, sec. 74. 

He alludes to Matthew and Luke in the following 
words : — 

"The composers of the genealogies of Jesus were very extrava- 
gant in making him descend from the first man and the Jewish 

* The original book of Celsus is lost, but Origen wrote a reply, in which 
he quoted large portions of it. I make my quotations from Origen's reply. 



198 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

kings. The carpenter's wife was ignorant of her high original." — 
Book 2, note 32, p. 80. 

A plain reference to Matthew and Luke, for they 
are the only writers which give his genealogy, and 
one of them traces it to Adam, and the other to the 
Jewish kings. His remarks about the carpenter's 
wife shows that Celsus understood one of the writers 
to trace it through Mary instead of Joseph. 

He quotes Matthew directly when he says : — 

"They have likewise such precepts as these: 'Resist not him 
that injures you ; and if a man strike thee on the one cheek offer to 
him the other also.' That is an old saying, but here it is expressed 
in a more homely manner." — Book 7, p. 370. 

That, like the following, is a plain reference to the 
Sermon on the Mount : — 

" Moses encourageth the people to get riches and destroy their 
enemies, But his son, the Nazarene man, delivers quite contrary 
laws. Nor will he admit a rich man, or one that affects that do- 
minion, to have access to his father. Nor will he allow men to take 
more care for food or raiment than the ravens, nor to provide for 
clothing so much as the lilies ; and to him that has smitten once he 
directs to offer that he may smite again." — Book 7, sec. 18, p. 343. 

He says Christ " was a carpenter by trade." — B. 
6, sec. 36, p 299. An undoubted reference to Mark, 
for he is the only Evangelist that says Jesus was a 
carpenter. — Mark vi : 3. 

Celsus says the only reason Christians can not 
worship angels and demons is because "it is impos- 
sible to serve two masters. " — B. 7, sec. 68, p. 376. 

This is quoted from Matthew or Luke. 

He alludes to John's Gospel, when he says that 
after Christians have affirmed Jesus to be the Word* 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 199 

they " do not show him to be a pure and holy Word, 
but a miserable man, condemned, scourged and cruci- 
fied. " — B. 2, sec. 3, p. 79. 

Celsus plainly alludes to John x : 23, 24, when he 
addresses Christ thus : — 

1 'You showed us nothing, though they called upon you in the 
temple to give some manifest sign that you were the Son of God." 
B. I, sec. 67, p. 52. 

He reproaches Jesus concerning his " deriders, the 
purple robe, the crown of thorns, and the reed in his 
hand."— B. 2, sec. 34. 

There he alludes to several, if not to all, of the 
gospel writers. But unquestionably he alludes to all 
the Gospels, when he says: — 

" Omitting many things that might be alleged against what they 
say of their master, let us allow him to be truly an angel. Is he 
the first and only one that has come? Or have there been others? 
If they should say he only : they are easily convicted of falsehood. 
For they say that others have often come. And in particular, there 
came an angel to his sepulchre : some say one, others twp, to tell 
the women that he was risen ; for the Son of God, it seems, could 
not open the sepulchere, but wanted another to remove the stone. 
And there came also an angel to the carpenter about Mary's preg- 
nancy; and another angel to direct them to take the child and flee. 
And what need is there to reckon up particularly all that were 
sent to Moses and others." — B. 5, sec. 52. 

There can be no doubt that he alludes to each of the 
four Evangelists here, for he says, some say one angel 
came to the sepulchre. Now, it takes at least two to 
make some. Then he says that others say two, etc. 
Now, it takes more than one to make "others." 
Matthew and Mark mention one angel, and Luke and 
John two. He even alludes to them in the order in 



200 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

which they now stand — the writers which mention 
one angel (Matthew and Mark) being mentioned first, 
while those who mention two (Luke and John) are 
mentioned last. 

Celsus clearly alludes to the "Acts of the Apostles " 
when he says of the Christians : "At first they were few 
in number, and then they agreed. But being increased 
and spread abroad, they divide again and again, and 
every one will have a party of his own ; which is what 
they were disposed to do of old." — B. 3, sec. 10. 

If any reader doubts that this early Infidel writer 

refers to the history contained in Acts, let him peruse 

Acts, ii: 44; iv : 32, and Acts xv, and other places. 

"The Christians seemed to be well skilled in the names and in- 
vocations of demons." — B. 1, sec. 6, p. 7. 

That is an allusion to Acts, for there it is recorded 
that the disciples frequently expelled demons. See 
Acts, xix: 11-16. 

Thus it is seen that Celsus quotes or alludes to each 
of the historical books of the New Testament, show- 
ing that they were all in existence and universally 
received as authentic when he wrote; and his own 
writings show that it was not a very great while after 
the death of Christ when he wrote, for he says : — 

"It is but a few years since he delivered this doctrine, who is 
now reckoned by the Christians to be the Son of God." — B. 2, sec. 
26, p. 21. 

"Jesus was the first author of this sedition." — B. 8, sec. 14, 
p. 387. 

If Celsus could have denied the genuineness and 

authenticity of these books, he would have done so; 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 201 

but he admits their genuineness, and strengthens their 
claim to authenticity. Origen, who replied to him, 
takes notice of about eighty quotations from, or ref- 
erences to, the books of the New Testament; most of 
such quotations being from the Gospels. This able 
and original Infidel writer makes many valuable con- 
cessions to the Christian argument. He even admits 
that Jesus performed such miracles as healing the lame, 
giving sight to the blind, and raising the dead; and us 
an offset to it, instances the tricks of the Egyptians 
and other magicians. — B. J?, sec. 47. 

I would like to make many more quotations from 
this eminent enemy of the faith, but it would consume 
too much space; I will, therefore, sum up his quota- 
tions, allusions, and admissions, in the language of 
Dr. Doddridge : — 

II He quotes from the Gospels such a variety of particulars, that 
the enumeration of them will almost prove an abridgment of the 
Evangelists' history, particularly, that Jesus, who, he says, was 
represented as the Word of God (p. 79), and who was the author of 
the Christian name (p. 21), and also called himself the Son of God, 
was a man of Nazareth (343) , that he was the reputed son of a 
carpenter (p. 30), that his mother's pregnancy was at first suspected, 
but that it was pretended that his body was formed in her womb by 
the Spirit of God; or, as he elsewhere expresses it, produced by a 
divine operation, (p. 30.) And that to remove the carpenter's 
prejudice, an angel appeared to him to inform him of this.* (p. 269.) 
That when he was born, a star appeared in the east to certain Magi, 
who came to adore him. (pp. 31, 45.) The consequence of which 
was the slaughter of the infants by the order of Herod, hoping 
thereby to destroy Jesus, and to prevent his reign, (p. 45.) But 
that his parents were warned by an angel to fly into Egypt, to pre- 
serve his life, as if his Father could not have protected him at 
home (pp. 51, 266), and that he continued in Egypt for awhile; 
where he says he had an opportunity of learning magic, (p. 22.) 

* And Doddridge might hav« added that Joseph, by some means, became 
satisfied on that subject. 



202 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

" He farther represents It as recorded in those books, that when 
Jesus was washed by John, the appearance of a dove descended 
upon him, and that a voice was heard from heaven, declaring him to 
be the Son of God. (pp. 31, 105.) That he was vexed by a tempta- 
tion, and the assaults of an evil spirit, (p. 303.) He calls Christ 
himself a carpenter (p. 300), and insults his mean life, lurking from 
place to place (p. 47) ; gathering up ten or twelve poor men, with- 
out character or standing, publicans and men that used the sea (p. 
47) ; represents Christ as a beggar, sometimes hungry and thirsty 
(p. 55) ; speaks of his being rejected by many that heard him, and 
hints at an attempt to throw him down a precipice, (p. 298.) 

"He grants that he wrought miracles, and particularly that he 
cured some sick people, raised some from the dead, and multiplied 
some loaves; but speaks of others doing the like. (p. 53.) Men- 
tions his curing the lame and the blind, (p. 87.) He lampoons 
the expression, ' Thy faith hath saved thee.' (p. 8.) He hints at 
several things concerning the doctrine of Christ, especially in the 
Sermon on the Mount (pp. 343 and 370) ; that he declared no man 
could serve two masters (p. 380) ; and would have his disciples 
learn from the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, not to be 
too careful about food and raiment, (p. 343.) He refers to Christ's 
saying, that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
needle, than for a rich man to be saved (286 and 288) ; and 
observes that Jesus denounced woes upon his hearers for their 
obstinate Infidelity, (p. 107.) He also says that his disciples, in 
their writings, pretend that he foretold all things he was to suffer 
(p. 67) ; and his resurrection (p. 93) ; and likewise that deceivers 
would come, and work miracles, and speaks of the author of these 
wicked works by the name of Satan, (p. 89.) 

." He objects, that Jesus withdrew himself from those who sought 
to put him to death (p. 62), and yet afterwards did not avoid death, 
knowing it was to come. (p. 70.) He speaks of his eating the 
flesh of a lamb (p. 340) ; and that he foretold to his disciples that 
they would give him up to his enemies, (p. 72.) That before his 
sufferings, he prayed, ' Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass 
away.' (p. 75.) That he was betrayed by his disciples, though 
robbers are faithful to their leaders, (p. 62 and 66.) That none of 
his disciples dared to suffer for him (p. 86) ; and that he professed 
to undergo his sufferings in obedience to his Father (p. 75) ; and 
said these things ought to happen, (p. 332.) That he was denied 
by one who knew him to be God (p. 71), to whom, as well as to the 
traitor, he had foretold what he would do. (p. 72.) 

"He speaks of Jesus as ignominiously bound (p. 282); as 
scourged (79) ; as crowned with thorns, with a reed in his hand, 
and arrayed in a scarlet robe, and as condemned (81) ; as having 
gall given him to drink (174) ; as shamefully treated (282), and dis- 
tended on the cross. (82.) He derides him for not exerting his 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 203 

divinity to punish those outrages (81) ; as taking no vengeance on 
his enemies (404) ; as incapable to deliver himself and not delivered 
by his father in this extremity (41) ; and as greedily drinking gall 
and vinegar, through impatience of thirst. (82 and 840.) 

11 He observes, it was pretended, that when Jesus expired upon 
the cross, there was darkness and an earth-quake (p. 94) ; that 
when he arose, he needed an angel to remove the stone of the 
sepulchre, though he was said to be the Son of God (266) ; and 
according to some, one, and according to others, two angels came 
to the sepulchre, to inform the women of his resurrection. (266.) 
That after his resurrection, he did not appear to his enemies (98) ; 
but first to a woman that he had dispossessed (94 and 104) ; that 
he appeared to a few of his disciples, showing them the marks of 
his crucifixion, and appeared and disappeared on a sudden. (94 and 
104.) And he says: "We take these things from your own writ- 
ings, to wound you with your own weapons, (p. 106.) 

The perusal of the writings of this Epicurean philos- 
opher clearly establishes three facts : — 

1st. That there were no books then in existence, 
out of which he could confute the Christian religion, 
or by which he could disprove the gospel facts. 

2nd. That the historic books of the New Testament 
were in existence, and were, by the friends of Jesus, 
universally received as authentic and genuine. 

3d. That no material change has been made in them 
since Celsus' day; for he twitted the Christians on 
account of his genealogies and apparent contradictions 
in the Gospels ; and if they had been disposed to make 
any change, they would have so changed these things 
that there would not have remained even a shadow of 
a discrepancy. But they still remain as Celsus found 
them . 

Porphyry, sometimes called Bataneotes, who was 
born about the year 233, and flourished about 270, A. 
D., wrote a work against the Bible, in -fifteen books. 



204 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

This voluminous work has perished with the exception 
of numerous fragments preserved in the writings of 
others. Three replies were made to it, which are like- 
wise lost; one by Methodius, one by Eusebius, and 
one by Apollinarius. But from the fragments of 
Porphyry's writings which have been preserved, we 
learn that he alludes to, and quotes three of the Gos- 
pels and Acts, as well as several other books in the 
Old and New Testament. 

In his Prolegomena to the New Testament , Mill 
takes notice of several texts in the Gospels to which 
Porphyry took exceptions : — 

"And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time 
they were carried away to Babylon : 

And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Sala- 
thiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel." — Mat. i: 11, 12. 

" Here, as it seems, one and the same person, Jechonias, ends the 
second fourteen and begins the third class of fourteen; conse- 
quently one generation was supposed to be wanting. Porphyry, 
therefore, as we learn from Jerome, charged St. Matthew with a 
mistake. But Jerome says that Porphyry herein only betrayed his 
own ignorance and unskillfulness." 

"And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named 
Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom; and he saith unto him, 
Follow me. And he arose and followed him." — Mat. ix: 9. 

Porphyry quotes this, and remarks that either the 
historian has told a lie, or people were very silly to 
follow Jesus at his call. — Brev. Ps. vol. 4, p. 30. 

Matthew and Mark quote Isaiah (40: 3) and Mala- 
chi (3 : 1), as follows : — 

"Por this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, 
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of 
the Lord, make his paths straight." — Mat. Hi: 3. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 205 

" The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 

As it is written in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger be- 
fore thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of 
the Lord, make his paths straight." — Mark i: 1-3. 

Porphyry cites these passages and alleges contradic- 
tion. — Brevarium upon the Psalter, vol. 4, p. 10. 

Theophylact, in commenting upon John i: 1, quotes 
Porphyry as saying ? *' If the Son of God be the 
Word, he must be either outward word or inward 
word ; but he is neither this, nor that; therefore he is 
not word. " — Theo. 558. 

In a work against the Pelagians, Jerome alludes to 
John vii : 8-10, and remarks : " Here Porphyry barks, 
charging our lord with fickleness and inconsis- 
tency." — Vol. 4, p. 521. 

In his Philosophy of Oracles he says an oracle was 
consulted with reference to Jesus: " The oracle de- 
clared Christ to be a most pious man, and his soul like 
the soul of other pious men after death, favored with 
immortality, and that the mistaken Christians wor- 
shipped him." 

Porphyry also alludes to some things in Acts of 
Apostles, particularly to the history of Ananias and 
Sapphira, the truth of which he never calls in question. 
See Jerome vs. Pelagians, vol. 4, p. 792. 

He also alludes to, and admits, the miracles per- 
formed by the Apostles, as recorded in Acts, but 
alleges that the magicians of Elgypt and others, could 
do similar wonders. — Brev. Psal., vol. 2, p. 334. 



206 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

i 

It will be seen, from the above, that Porphyry bears 
testimony to the existence, prevalence and general 
character of four out of the five books under consid- 
eration, Matthew, Mark, John and Acts, and I have no 
doubt, if we had his entire work, we would find that 
he also quotes Luke ; but it must be remembered, 
however, that whatever testimony is given to Acts, 
applies, with equal weight, to the third Gospel, and 
vice versa, for they were confessedly written by the 
same author. I could quote much more from this 
eminent Infidel confirmatory of the Christian argu- 
ment ; but it has simply been my purpose to make use 
of such statements as attest the historic books under 
consideration. 

Flavius Claudius Julianus, commonly called the 
Apostate Julian, shall next depose. He was brought 
up in the Christian faith, but renounced Christianity 
and embraced Hellenism when he was about twenty 
years of age. This, however, was kept comparatively 
secret, till he became Emperor, at about the age of 
twenty-five. When he was made sole Emperor, he 
issued express edicts for opening the temples and offer- 
ing sacrifices to the gods. He died in the 32d year of 
his age. He wrote a special work against the Chris- 
tians, and in other works and letters he alludes to them. 
Libanius, a heathen writer, thus speaks of his work 
against Christianity : "In the winter season, during 
the long nights, the Emperor set himself to confute 
those books which make the man of Palestine a god, 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 207 

and the Son of God ; and in a long and unanswerable 
argument he showed how trifling and absurd those 
things are which are admired by them. In which work 
he excelled the Tyrian old man ; let the Tyrian for- 
give me, that I say he was excelled by his son." But 
a writer named Socrates, who quotes this, says that if 
Porphyry had been an Emperor, Libanius would have 
preferred his work above Julian's. — Socrates, b. 3, 
p. 196. 

Julian wrote about 300 years after the establishment 
of the church, as will be seen from the following 
quotation from his work : — 

" But Jesus having persuaded a few among you, and those the 
worst of men, has now been celebrated about three hundred years ; 
having clone nothing in his life time worthy of remembrance ; unless 
any one thinks it a mighty matter to heal lame and blind people, and 
exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany." — Cyril 
contra. Julian, B. 6, p. 191. 

This, and other passages, shows that Julian, like 
Celsus and Porphyry, admitted that Jesus wrought 
miracles. Many such passages are preserved in Cyril's 
able refutation of the apostate's production, but I must 
hasten to those that have a direct bearing on the credi- 
bility of the books under consideration. He quotes 
all these, and mentions each of the writers thereof by 
name. He mentions Matthew and Luke as follows: — 

11 Matthew and Luke have been shown to differ with one another 
about the genealogy." — B. 8, p. 253. 

The little thrust of Celsus hadn't caused them to 
change the genealogy before Julian wrote, and the 
gentle reminder of the latter has not caused them to 



208 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

change it since. A strong proof that the Gospels have 
been preserved to us, unchanged and uncorrupted. 

He alludes to all of the Evangelists, and names one 
of them in the following passage : — 

"Jesus whom you celebrate, was one of Caesars subjects. * * * 
For yourselves allow that he was enrolled with his father and 
mother in the time of Cyrenius ; but after he was born, what good 
did he do to his relations? For they would not, as it is said, believe 
on him. And yet that stiff-necked and hard-hearted people believed 
Moses. But Jesus, who rebuked the winds, and walked on the seas, 
and cast out demons, and as you will have it, made the heaven and 
the earth (though none of his disciples presumed to say this of him, 
except John only, nor he clearly and distinctly; however, let it be 
allowed that he did so) could not order his designs so as to save 
his friends and relations." — B. 6, p. 213. 

In the following passage he mentions all these writers 
by name, and also Paul: — 

" But you are so unhappy as not to adhere to the things delivered 
to you by the Apostles, but they have been altered by you for the 
worse, and carried on to yet greater impiety. For neither Paul, nor 
Matthew, nor Luke, nor Mark, have dared to call Jesus God. But 
honest John, understanding that a great multitude of men in the cities 
of Greece and Italy were seized with this distemper, and hearing 
likewise, as I suppose, that the tombs of Peter and Paul were re- 
spected and frequented, though as yet privately only; however, 
having heard it, he then first presumed to advance that doctrine. " — 
B. 10,p. 327. 

It is unnecessary" to quote anything more, confirma- 
tory of the Gospels ; I, therefore, proceed to adduce 
a few passages corroborative of Acts of Apostles. 
Julian alludes to the " vision of Peter " at the tanner's, 
and inquires : — 

" But why do you not observe a pure diet as well as the Jews, but 
eat all things, like herbs of the field, believing Peter, because he 
said, ' What God has cleansed, that call not thou common.' " — 
B.9, p. 314. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 209 

That admits the correctness of the history contained 
in Acts ; but the following is still more to the pur- 
pose: — 

"You have killed not only our people who persisted in the 
ancient religion, but likewise heretics, equally deceived with your- 
selves; but who did not mourn the dead man exactly in the same 
manner that you do. But these are your own inventions ; for Jesus 
has nowhere directed you to do such things, nor yet Paul. The 
reason is that they never expected you would arrive at such power. 
They were content with deceiving maid-servants and slaves, and by 
them some men and women, such as Cornelius and Sergius. If 
there were then any other men of eminence brought over to you — 
I mean in the times of Tiberias and Claudius, when these things 
happened — let me pass for a liar in everything I say." — B. 6, 
p. 206. 

This passage, to use the language of another, does 
wonderfully confirm the genuineness of the book of 
the Acts of the Apostles, and the truth of the history 
contained in it. Julian challenges the Christians, after 
he had excepted the two above mentioned, to produce 
the names of any more eminent men converted from 
the Gentiles to Christianity in the reigns of Tiberias and 
Claudius ; which is a proof that Julian did not and could 
not contest the truth of the history in the Acts of 
Apostles, and likewise that he was well satisfied 
that the Christians had no other authentic his- 
tory of things done at that time. He knew they 
relied upon the account given in that book, and 
that they did not pretend to have any other au- 
thentic accounts of them. Once more, since the 
accounts given in the New Testament, and particularly 
in Acts of Apostles, of the conversion of slaves and 
maid-servants, and of Cornelius and Sergius-Paums 
14 



210 HAND-BOOK OP CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

are allowed to be true, it is reasonable to believe, also, 
that the grounds and reasons of their conversion to 
the Christian faith are truly and faithfully related ; 
and consequently, that they were not deceived or im- 
posed upon, but were convinced upon sufficient and 
undeniable evidence, such as ought to sway and satisfy 
the minds of wise and good men. 

Julian ridicules the Christian ordinances in a most 
indecent manner, particularly baptism. He speaks of 
those baptized as " Scoured with water, which pene- 
trates even to the soul ! ' ' And then sneeringly adds : — 

" And baptism, which cannot heal the leprosy, nor the gout, nor 
the flux, nor any other distemper of the body, takes away adulteries, 
extortions, and all the other sins of the soul." — Book 7, p. 245. 

In his Cmars, another of Julian's works, in a satire 
upon Constantine, he represents his son, Constantius, 
as coming into the presence of his father, proclaim- 



" Whosoever is a ravisher, a murderer, guilty of sacrilege, or 
any other abomination, let him come boldly. For when I have 
washed him with this water, I will immediately make him clean and 
innocent; and if he commit the same crimes again, I will make him, 
after he has thumped his breast and beat his head, as clean as be- 
fore." — Julianas Ccesar, p. 336. 

It is not the province of the author to reply to any- 
thing advanced by Julian, as his statements are intro- 
duced for a different purpose, but he can not forbear 
quoting, in part, the reply of Phileleutherus Liep- 
senis : — * 

" A ridiculous and stale banter, used by Celsus and others before 
Julian, upon the Christian doctrines and baptism, and repentance 

* Dr. Bentley. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 211 

and remission of sins — baptism is rallied as a 'mere washing,' and 
repentance as ' thumping the breast,' and other outward grimaces; 
the inward grace and the intrinsic change of the mind are left out 
of the character. And whom are we to believe — those Pagans or 
ourselves? Are we to fetch our notions of the sacraments from 
scraps of Julian and Celsus? Or from the Scripture, the pure 
fountain; and from what we read, know and profess? And yet the 
banter came more decently out of Celsus, au Epicurean's mouth, 
than out of Julian's, the most bigoted creature m the world. He 
to laugh at expiation by baptism, whose whole life, after his apos- 
tasy, was a continued course of washings, purgations, expiations, 
with the most absurd ceremonies ! " 

Julian sometimes refers to the Christians in letters 
and other works besides the one which he wrote 
against their religion. In a letter to Arsacius, high- 
priest of Galatia, he tells him that all the priests should 
live soberly and unblamably, thus setting a better 
example than they were wont; and that hospitals 
should be erected in every city. "For," he adds, 
" it is a shame when there are no beggars among the 
Jews, and the impious Galileans relieve not only their 
own people, but ours also, that our poor should be 
neglected by us, and be kept helpless and desti- 
tute." — Epistle 49, page 429. 

This apostate Emperor has borne valuable testimony 
to the historic books of the New Testament, as all must 
in candor admit who read the extracts just made. I 
will briefly sum up his evidence: — 

1st. He admits that Jesus was born in the reign of 
Augustus, and enrolled in Judea in the time of 
Cyrenius ; that the Christian religion arose and began 
its eventful course during the reigns of Tiberius and 
Claudius ; and that Cornelius and Sergius Paulus were 



212 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 

converted to that faith before Claudius laid aside the 
imperial purple. 

2d. He bears witness to the genuineness and authen- 
ticity of the books known as Matthew, Mark, Luke 
and John, and also Acts of Apostles ; so quoting them 
as to imply that these were the historic books received 
by the Christians as of authority, and the only au- 
thentic biographic sketches of Jesus and the Apostles, 
as well as the only reliable sources of information 
concerning the doctrine preached by them. "He 
allows their early date, and even argues for it." 

3d. He makes no attempt to deny the miracles of 
Jesus; but, on the other hand, plainly admits that 
he healed the lame, and the blind, and demoniacs, 
and "rebuked the winds and walked on the seas.' ' 
And in this he but followed in the wake of his prede- 
cessors ; for the miracles of Christ were not denied 
before Julian's day, nor for many centuries after- 
wards.* 

Having seen that the credibility of the five books 
under review can be established by the admissions of 

* That Jesus actually performed miraculous wonders was, during the first 
centuries, admitted by all the enemies of Christianity, Jews, Pagans and 
Mohammedans. Celsus admitted it; Porphyry admitted it ; Julian admitted 
it. It was admitted by the compilers of the Jewish Talmuds ; and the Koran, 
written as late as the Seventh Century, represents God as speaking as fol- 
lows : — 

" We formerly delivered the books of the law to Moses, and caused apos- 
tles to succeed him, and gave evident miracles to Jesus, the Son of Mary, 
and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit." — Chap. 2, p. 64. 

The miracles of Jesus Christ must have been undeniable, or they would 
not have been admitted by the founders of a rival religion. The denial of 
miracles is a comparatively modern phase of Infidelity. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 213 

the earliest enemies and opposers of the cross, and 
that the history contained therein is corroborated and 
confirmed by the earliest unbelieving historians, both 
Jews and Pagans, I will now proceed to adduce a few 
of the many admissions of modern Infidel writers. 

Let us first hear Gibbon, who has, with great pro- 
priety, been styled " the most accomplished and the 
most skeptical historian. " He deposeth as follows : — 

"The Jews of Palestine, who had fondly expected a temporal 
deliverer, gave so cold a reception to the miracles of the Divine 
Prophet, that it was found unnecessary to publish, or at least to 
preserve any Hebrew Gospel. The authentic histories of the 
actions of Christ were composed in the Greek language, at a con- 
siderable distance from Jerusalem, and after the Gentile converts 
were grown extremely numerous. As soon as those histories were 
translated into the Latin tongue, they were perfectly intelligible to 
all the subjects of Rome, excepting only the peasants of Syria and 
Egypt, for whose benefit particular versions were afterwards 
made." — Decline and Fall of the Boman Empire, p. 574. 

It will here be seen that this polished, though 
skeptical, historian, admits that the Gospels are " au- 
thentic histories.' ' Let us next hear Ernest Renan. 
After speaking briefly of these books, he adds: — 

"We shall have occasion to return to this in our second book, the 
composition of the Gospels having been one of the most important 
events to the future of Christianity that took place during the sec- 
ond half of the first century." — Life of Jesus, p. 17. 

It will here be seen that Mr. Renan agrees with all 
Christian writers as to the time these books were pro- 
duced. The early date of these books he says gives 
them high value. He then continues: — 

"As to Luke, in the first place, doubt is hardly possible. Luke's 
Gospel is a regular composition, founded on anterior documents. 
(Luke i: 1-4.) It is the work of a man who selects, prunes, com- 
bines." — Life of Jesus, p. 18. 



214 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

" There can be no doubt that the Acts of the Apostles was written 
by the author of the third Gospel, and forms a continuation of his 
work. It is not necessary to stop and prove this proposition, 
which has never been seriously contested. The preface which is at 
the beginning of each work, the dedication of both to Theophilus, 
and the perfect resemblance of style and ideas, are abundant demon- 
stration of the fact." — The Apostles, pp. 13, 14. 

Let us hear him further : — 

" But if the Gospel of Luke is dated, those of Matthew and Mark 
are also ; for it is certain that the third Gospel is posterior to the 
first, and presents the character of a compilation much more ad- 
vanced." — Life of Jesus, p. 19. 

Then he speaks further of " the two first Gospels, 
which bear not wrongfully the name of * Gospel ac- 
cording to Matthew,' and ' Gospel according to 
Mark.' " -—page 22. 

He argues, at some length, for the genuineness of 

the fourth Gospel. I quote him briefly : — 

"The author speaks continually as an eye-witness. He desires 
to pass for the Apostle John. If, therefore, this work is not really 
by the apostle, we must admit a deception which the author con- 
fesses to himself. Now although the ideas of that day were in mat- 
ters of literary honesty essentially different from ours, we have no 
example in the apostolic world of a forgery of this kind. More- 
over, not only does the writer desire to pass for the Apostle John, 
but we see clearly that he writes in the interest of that apostle." — 
p. 26. 

After going considerably into details, Eenan thus 

sums up the conclusion to which his investigations have 

lead him : — 

"Upon the whole, I accept the four canonical Gospels as authen- 
tic. All, in my judgment, date back to the first century, and they 
are substantially by the authors to whom they are attributed," 
etc. — p. 34 

And thus it is seen that the historic books of the 
New Testament are admitted to be credible and au- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 215 

thentic by the Infidelic Frenchman as well as the 

skeptical Englishman. 

Another Infidel, Mr. Taylor, makes the following 

admission in regard to Acts of Apostles : — 

"The instances of evidently undesigned coincidence between 
the epistles of Paul and the history of him contained in the Acts of 
the Apostles, are indeed irrefragable; and make out the conclusion 
to the satisfaction of every fair inquirer, that neither those epistles 
nor that part of the Acts of the Apostles are spurious. The hero 
of the one is unquestionably the epistolar of the other ; both writ- 
ers are therefore genuine to the full extent of everything that they 
purport to be; neither are the epistles forged, nor is the history, as 
far as it relates to Paul, other than a faithful and a fair account of a 
person who really existed, and acted the part therein ascribed to 
him." — Taylor's Diegesis, p. 376. 

The following from the pen of Dr. Wise, a Jewish 

Rabbi, is very much to the same purport: — 

" Paul is an open book in history. We have his genuine epistles, 
iu which he gives considerable account of himself and his exploits. 
We have one portion of the Acts, in which, contrary to the balance 
of that book, the author narrates in the first person plural ' we,' 
which appears to be taken from the notes of one of Paul's com- 
panions, Luke, Timothy, Silas, or any other." — Origin of Chris- 
tianity, p. 24. 

After briefly setting forth the testimony of Chris- 
tian witnesses to the gospel facts, it will be remem- 
bered, I set out to show that the same was sustained 
and corroborated by witnesses unfriendly to Chris- 
tianity. I leave the reader to judge how well I have 
accomplished my purpose. It will be remembered 
that, when considering the testimony of unbelieving 
historians, I noted each new point of corroboration 
discovered; but when I reached a different class of 
writers, the active enemies of our religion, I omitted 
the further enumeration of such points. I had already 



216 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

found over thirty, and, had I kept on, the number 
would, ere this, have been up in the hundreds, as any- 
one can see by casting his eye back to the summary of 
Celsus' testimony. I had, therefore, to desist, be- 
cause those items were becoming altogether too multi- 
tudinous, and were calculated to swell this volume to 
undue proportions. I will here make the general state- 
ment that every material fact of gospel history, ex- 
cept the fact of Christ* s resurrection,* is either corrob- 
orated by an unbelieving historian, or admitted by an 
ancient or modern disbeliever; and the most important 
facts are corroborated by numerous unbelieving writers 
and historians of early date, and conceded by a plurality 
of Infidels, both ancient and modern. It is further 
evident, from the facts heretofore adduced, that every 
essential feature in the testimony of ancient Christian 
writers, relative to the genuineness and authenticity of 
the Gospels and Acts, is corroborated by witnesses on 
the opposite side. The author holds himself in readi- 
ness to sustain the above positions if called in question. 

m. Circumstantial evidence. 

After what has already been presented, I can not see 
how any one can have the least doubt as to the credi- 
bility and general truthfulness of these apostolic nar- 
ratives ; but if such a doubt should still linger in the 
breast of any reader, that doubt should be put to rest 
forever when we consider the circumstantial evidence 



* The fact that the resurrection was universally maintained by Christians, 
is also admitted. See Paley, p. 275. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 217 

in the case. The circumstances showing that each and 
every one of those books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John 
and Acts, are authentic histories, credible and trust- 
worthy ; such circumstances, I say, are manifold in 
number and irrefragable in kind. To adduce them 
all, would be impracticable on the one hand, and un- 
necessary on the other. But I will briefly set forth 
some of the leading ones, under three heads. 

In the first place, The fact that these books have 
been read, quoted and appealed to as most reliable 
documents ever since their appearance in the world, 
and an institution established upon the facts re- 
corded therein that has swayed the minds of millions 
of the human race, revolutionizing governments, and 
remodeling and changing the forms and habits of so- 
ciety, in the manner that Christianity has done, is, in 
itself, sufficient to show that they have an historic 
basis to rest upon ; and when this thought is coupled 
with the additional reflection that their genuineness 
and authenticity was not denied for centuries, either 
by friend or foe, the consideration assumes majestic 
proportions, giving to the argument for their entire 
truthfulness a strength that is well nigh invincible. If 
these books are not credible histories, how came the 
church to be established upon what they record ? If 
they have no historic basis, how came so many men to 
be deluded? and men too of brilliant mind and high 
station, such as Saul and Eliezer among the Jews, and 
Cornelius and Sergius Paulus among the Gentiles ! 



218 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Why were the original promulgators and their adher- 
ents willing to sacrifice life and liberty in attestation 
of their faith in these alleged facts? If Christianity 
has no historic basis, how did it originate? and if these 
books do not furnish the real basis, what reason could 
the disciples have had for suppressing their real history 
and adopting fiction in lieu thereof? and how were 
they enabled to do so in face of the bitterest enemies 
without, and amid frequent strifes and contentions 
within? If you say there ivas no internal strife, and 
no external opposition, then what becomes of all 
history ? and what becomes of the law of causation ? 
Can the plant grow without a seed ? Can the flower 
bloom without a bud ? Did not the same forces that 
produced opposition and persecution in later times, 
produce it in the beginning? If not, why not? Did 
not the divisions and heresies that have succeeded the 
Apostolic age have a seed from which to sprout? 
Most assuredly ! And if these books are wholly 
fictions, why were they received and revered by all 
Christians, including every heretical sect? The fact 
that those books were universally received, both by 
heretics and by standard Christians, and in all coun- 
tries where Christianity gained a foothold, shows very 
plainly that they are historic and true. But when 
we remember that their general truthfulness was never 
questioned by any of the early enemies of the cross, 
the case is still stronger. If the things contained in 
those books are falsehoods, why was not their falsity. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 219 

exposed in the incipiency of the movement, while 
everything was fresh and easy of investigation ? Some 
of the modern Infidels would fain make the world be- 
lieve that the Christian religion has no historic basis 
in fact. But their predecessors, who had some oppor- 
tunity to know, never hinted such a defect in the sys- 
tem. Celsus, Porphyry and Julian never denied that 
these books were historical ; but assumed it as an un- 
deniable fact, and argued accordingly. They criti- 
cised their contents, as I would criticise Greeley's 
" Conflict " or Stephens' " War between the States," 
but as to denying their general correctness as historic 
documents, they seem never to have even dreamed of 
such a thing. I insist that this is a weighty considera- 
tion. If those early and inveterate enemies of the 
religion of Jesus could have denied the authenticity of 
these books they would have done so. But they made 
no attempt in that direction. If the books were un- 
true, then was the time to show it. No research can 
do it now, for every discovery in Christian antiquities 
but strengthens the argument in their favor. For 
illustration, an eminent Italian scholar, named Mura- 
tori, in the year 1740, discovered in the Ambrosian 
library at Milan, a document which has been shown by 
conclusive and irrefragable internal evidence, to have 
been written during the decade beginning 160 and end- 
ing 170. It contains an almost complete canon of the 
New Testament, but unfortunately it is mutilated at 
both ends. It begins thus: — 



220 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

***** those things at which he was present he 
placed thus. The third book of the Gospels, that according to Luke, 
the well known physician, Luke wrote in his own name in order 
after the ascension of Christ, and when Paul had associated him 
with himself as one studious of truth. Nor did he himself see the 
Lord in the flesh ; and he, according as he was able to accomplish 
it, began his narrative with the nativity of John. The fourth Gos- 
pel is that of John, one of his disciples." 

A third and fourth imply a first and second ; show- 
ing that the four Gospels were known as such at that 
early date, and had been translated into Latin, for 
this ancient document is a translation from the Greek 
into the Latin. A strong link in the chain of cir- 
cumstantial evidence. 

Of Acts of Apostles this ancient document says: — 

" But the Acts of all the Apostles are written in one book. Luke 
comprehends them in the work addressed to the excellent Theoph- 
ilus." — Encyclopedia on Evidences, page 383. 

Let us take another example. The ancient docu- 
ment called the "Epistle of Barnabas, " a product of 
the apostolic age, contains a passage from Matthew, 
quoted as Scripture; showing with what sacredness 
the very earliest Christian writers regarded that book. 
This quotation, however, occurs in the 4th chapter. 
And, unfortunately, the first four chapters of the 
Epistle of Barnabas were wanting in all the Greek 
manuscripts, being found only in Latin versions. 
Hence, objectors said the quotation might be an inter- 
polation. But in 1859 a discovery was made that 
silenced the objection forever. I refer to the discov- 
ery by Dr. A. F. C. Tischendorf, of the venerable 
Codex Sinaiticus. This ancient manuscript contains 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 221 

the entire Epistle of Barnabas in the Greek. An- 
other strong link in the chain of evidence circum- 
stantial ! Nor, indeed, are these isolated cases, for, 
as Pres. Hinsdale truly remarks, "all the discoveries 
of the last century, bearing on the question, have 
gone to establish the genuineness of the Gospels.' ' 

In the second place, The harmony of these books 
with the geography, history, customs, manners, litera- 
ture and politics of the age and country in which they 
were written, proves them to be credible histories. In 
these narratives we find a species of local knowledge 
and a familiarity with transpiring events that could be 
possessed only by inhabitants of that country, and 
persons living in that age. These marks stamp the 
Gospels and Acts as true histories. That is a trait 
that could not have been imitated by a forger at a 
later date. A Greek or Roman of the Second or 
Third Century would not have possessed sufficient 
knowledge of the actual condition of Judea before 
the fall of Jerusalem ; and a Jew in those centuries 
would have been deficient in knowledge of Grecian 
and Roman laws, customs and modes of thought. For 
it must be remembered that " these things were not 
done in a corner," and that the events mentioned, and 
places, habits, etc., alluded to, were not confined to a 
small province ; but that the scene of action is hardly 
bounded by the limits of the Roman Empire ; and that 
there are allusions to the condition, customs, and prin- 
ciples of the numerous cities throughout the vast 



222 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

domain of the Caesars, from some of the most diminu- 
tive up to many of the largest and most influential. 

I have not space to elaborate this argument fully 
by facts and citations from contemporary historians. 
But, in order to illustrate the argument, rather than 
complete it, I will give a few examples. I shall select, 
at least, one example from each book; and as 
Josephus is standard authority in regard to the affairs 
of that country, and the circumstances and history of 
those times, I shall rely upon him chiefly as corrobor- 
ative testimony. 

" But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the 
room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither : notwith- 
standing, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into 
the parts of Galilee." — Mat. ii:22. 

Here it is stated that Herod was succeeded by Arche- 
laus, and it is implied that the dominion of the latter 
did not embrace Galilee. From Josephus we learn 
that Herod's dominion embraced the whole land of 
Israel, and that he appointed Archelaus his successor 
in Judea, and assigned the rest of his dominions to 
other sons; also, that this arrangement was, in the 
main, ratified by the emperor. — Antiquities, book 17, 
chap. 8, sec. 1. 

" For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and 
bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife : 
for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not 
lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." — Mark vi : 17,18. 

See the quotation already made from Josephus, on 
page 178 of this work. Herod made a visit to his 
brother, Herod Philip, where he fell in love with 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 223 

Herodias, and ventured to make her proposals of mar- 
riage. And they married, though, as Mark intimates, 
not in a " lawful " manner. — Ant., book 18, chap. 5, 
sec. 1. 

"And the daughter of the said Herodias was married to Herod," 
etc. — Mark vi : 22 . 

Josephus says Herodias had a daughter, whose name 
was Salome. — Jos. Ant., B. 18, ch. 5, sec. 4. 

"And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be 
received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 

Aud sent messengers before his face : and they went, and entered 
into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 

And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he 
would go to Jerusalem." — Luke ix: 51, 52, 53. 

"Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that 
thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of 
Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." — 
John iv: 9. 

" It was the custom of the Galileans," Josephus 
says in substance, " when they came to the holy city 
at the festivals, to travel through the country of the 
Samaritans. As they were in their journey, some 
inhabitants of the village called Ginaea, which lies on 
the border of Samaria and the great plain, falling upon 
them, killed a great many of them." — Jos. Ant., B. 
20, ch. 6, sec. 1. 

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a 
prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, 
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." — 
John iv:20. 

"So he bade them get together upon Mt. Gerizim, which is by 
them [the Samaritans] looked upon as the most holy of all moun- 
tians." — Jos. Ant.,B. 18, ch. 4.sec.l. 

Let that suffice for the Gospels. 



224 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

We now go to Acts of Apostles : — 

"And when Herod had sought for .him, and found him not, he 
examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to 
death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode. 

And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon; 
but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus, 
the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace, because their 
country was nourished by the king's country. 

And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his 
throne, and made an oration unto them. 

And the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god, and 
not of a man. 

And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he 
gave not God the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up 
the ghost." — Acts xii: 19-23. 

Josephus describes the death of Herod. His descrip- 
tion may be condensed as follows : — 

" He went to the city of Caesarea. Here he celebrated shows in 
honor of Caesar. On the second day of the shows, early in the 
morning, he came into the theatre dressed in a robe of silver of 
most curious workmanship. The rays of the rising sun, reflected 
from such a garb, gave him a majestic and awful appearance. They 
called him a god, and entreated him to be propitious to them, say- 
ing: Hitherto, we have respected you as a man, but now we 
acknowledge you to be more than mortal. The king neither re- 
proved these persons nor rejected the impious flattery. Immedi- 
ately after this, he was seized with pains in his bowels, extremely 
violent at the very first. He was carried, therefore, with all haste to 
his palace. These pains continually tormenting him, he expired in 
five days' time." — Ant., B. 19, ch. 8, sec. 2. 

Having given a few examples to show how these 
writers are borne out in their statements by the great 
Jewish historian, I will give one example to show how 
they argree with heathen authors : — 

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of 
Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 

For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar 
with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore 
ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." — Acts xvii: 22. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 225 

Heathen writers attest the fact that there was such 
an altar at Athens, and there is no evidence that there 
was any such anywhere else. The author of the 
dialogue Philopatris, by many supposed to have been 
written by Lucian, about the year 170, has the follow- 
ing words : — 

"But let us find the Unknown God of Athens, and stretching our 
hands to heaven offer to him our praises and thanksgivings." — 
Lucian in Phil., p. 767. 

Pausanius, who wrote before the end of the Second 
Century, in describing Athens, mentions an altar of 
Jupiter Olympius, and adds: ''And nigh unto it is 
an altar of unknown gods.' ' — B. 5, p. 412. 

Diogenes Laertius, who wrote about 210, says that 
it originated with Epimenides, nearly 600 B. C, who 
was invited to Athens to deliver the city from a 
pestilence, and took sheep of different colors to the 
summit of Mars' Hill or the Areopagus, and gave in- 
structions that where each one should lie down to sac- 
rifice it on the spot.* The author continues : " Hence 
you may still see at Athens, altars without any inscrip- 
tion to a particular deity, as memorials of the propitia- 
tion then made." — Fenelon's " Lives of the Ancient 
Philosophers,'" p. 102. 

Thus it is seen that the Gospels and the Acts are in 
perfect accord with the conditions and circumstances 
of that age and country. To show how this line of 

* The idea seems to be that there were statues of different gods upon the 
Areopagus, and the purpose was to sacrifice the sheep to the deities at the 
base of whose statues they should lie down; but one or more lay down 
where there was no statue, hence they erected an altar to the unknown god 
on that spot. 

15 



226 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

argument strikes the mind of an Infidel, I make an- 
other quotation from Mr. Kenan : — 

" I have traveled through the evangelical province in every direc- 
tion; I have visited Jerusalem, Hebron and Samaria; scarcely 
any locality important in the history of Jesus has escaped me. All 
this history, which at a distance seems floating in the clouds of an 
unreal world, thus assumed a body, a solidity which astonished 
me. The striking accord of the texts and the places, the wonderful 
harmony of the evangelical ideal with the landscape which served 
as its setting, were to me as a revelation. I had before my eyes 
a fifth Gospel, torn but still legible, and thenceforth through the 
narratives of Matthew and Mark, instead of an abstract being, 
which one would say had never existed, I saw a wonderful human 
form live and move." — Life of Jesus, p. 46. 

Prof. J. W. McGarvey, in his great work entitled 

" Lands of the Bible," published since the first edition 

of this book was issued, makes an able and elaborate 

argument on the ' 'Agreement of the Land and the 

Book." I make a few extracts, applicable to the 

books under consideration. He says: — 

" The accuracy of a historian is more thoroughly tested by the 
minuter matters of geography, — such as the relative levels of dif- 
ferent portions of the country, the trees which it grows, and the 
peculiar features of its climate." 

In these he says the Bible writers are unfailingly 

accurate, and continues : — 

" The man who fell among thieves ■ went down ' from Jerusalem 
to Jericho ; Peter ' came down ' to the saints that dwelt at Lydia ; 
the brethren brought Paul * down to Caesarea ; ' and everywhere, 
in both the Old Testament and the New, the people went * up ' to 
Jerusalem, every road leading thither running upward except the 
one from Bethlehem. In all these, and a multitude of other in- 
stances, the relative elevation of places is correctly recognized, and 
in not a single instance of this kind has any of the Bible writers 
been found at fault. * * * When Zacheus is represented as 
climbing a tree, its name is given, ' a sycamore tree ; ■ and the 
prophet Amos is made to say, ' I was a herdman and a gatherer 
of sycamore fruit,' though the sycamore of other countries bears 
no fruit at all." — Pages 378 and 379. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 227 

After speaking of the east wind being dry and hot, 
in perfect accord with the Old Testament, the pro- 
fessor continues : — 

" The west wind on the contrary, is represented as the rain wind. 
1 When you see a cloud arise out of the west, straightway you say, 
There cometh a shower, and so it is ' (Luke xii : 54) . These results 
are owing to the situation of Palestine. * * * There lies to 
the east a desert, from which no rain can come, but which sends a 
dry and parching wind, which is the terror of the people. And 
Palestine has to the west of it the Mediterranean Sea, the only 
body of water which can supply her thirsty air with clouds heavy 
enough for rain." — p. 379. 

"In regard to the manners, customs and arts prevalent in the 
country, the Bible writers are equally exact. Fortunately for our 
argument, the present inhabitants of the country have inherited, to 
a very considerable extent, the manners, customs and arts of its 
ancient Jewish inhabitants, and the traveller sees them enacted 
before him. Jesus says: 'He that dippeth his hand with me in the 
dish is he that shall betray me ; ' and now, in the continued absence 
of knives and forks and plates, every man at the table dips his 
hand into the dish. Jesus also says: 'Give and it shall be given 
you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together and run- 
ning over shall men give into your bosom' (Luke vi:38). How 
into your bosom? The question is unanswered till you observe the 
dress of the working classes in Palestine, which is often only a 
coarse shirt reaching down to the heels, with a girdle around the 
waist. Into the bosom of this shirt grain may be poured in con- 
siderable quantities, the girdle preventing it from slipping below ; 
and there is no easier way of carrying a bushel of wheat or barley. 
The shepherd also stows away weak lambs in the same capacious 
pocket." — page 380. 

Then, after saying that minstrels are present in the 
house with a dead body, as alluded to in Scripture, 
and that grass is still cast into the oven to heat the oven 
for cooking, as alluded to in the Gospels, the learned 
explorer continues : — 

"But the best test of a writer's familiarity with the events of 
which he writes is found in his allusions to the minute features 
of the localities in which the events are said to have transpired. The 
Bible is truly marvellous in this respect, so that the careful explorer 
of Palestine finds it his best local guide book, and he is frequently 



228 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

uncertain whether he has reached a given locality until he com- 
pares its features with what is said of it in the Scriptures. As for 
known localities, he finds them always answering to the book, 
except where they have been altered by the hand of man. * * * 
We hear, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, that the man who 
fell among thieves was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and 
on examining the frequented roads which lead away from Jeru- 
salem, we find that all of them, except that to Jericho, pass among 
villages and thickly populated districts, while the latter passes 
through rugged hills and ravines that are now, and ever have been, 
uninhabited — the very road for robbers. We find, too, about half 
way, a ruined khan, corresponding to the inn of the parable, built 
as a refuge from this very danger. In a description of a storm on 
the Lake of Galilee, an unprecedented expression is found in the 
statement that 'there came down a storm of wind on the lake.' 
In universal speech, storms are represented as arising, instead of 
coming down, and Matthew and Mark, in speaking of this storm, 
both say that it arose. But when we sail on the Lake of Galilee, 
and look for the source of a storm, we look up to the high moun- 
tain-tops which overshadow the lake, and it is quite natural for 
one in that position to say the storm comes down. Here is the 
evident language of an eye-witness, proving the sincerity of Luke, 
who uses the language, when he says that he obtained his informa- 
tion from ' eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word.'" — Lands 
of the Bible, page 382. 

The author argues that this accuracy is all the more 
remarkable from the fact that the best historians, like 
Josephus, and the most accurate observers among 
travellers in the Holy Land, like Canon Tristram, have 
made mistakes about these very matters of which the 
Bible speaks. 

The argument under this head may be illustrated by 
the following anecdote, related by Dr. Richard New- 
ton, in his interesting book, entitled, " Illustrated 
Rambles in Bible Lands." 

"In a village in Yorkshire, England, lived two men who were 
cloth manufacturers. One was named Walsh, the other Stetson. 
Walsh was an unbeliever. It was a favorite opinion of his that the 
Bible was ' all made up.' He could never believe that it was written 
where it professed to be, and by the men said to have written it. 
But Stetson was an earnest Christian. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 229 

" Walsh was part owner of a factory, and one year he had set his 
heart on making a very large and fine piece of cloth. He took great 
pains with the carding, spinning, dyeing, weaving and finishing of 
it. In the process of manufacture it was one day stretched on the 
tenter-hooks to dry. It made a fine show, and he felt very proud 
of it. The next morning he arose early to work at it, and to his 
amazement it was gone. Some one had stolen it during the night. 

"After weeks of anxiety and expense, a piece of cloth answering 
the description was stopped at Manchester awaiting the owner and 
proof. Away to Manchester went Walsh, as fast as the express train 
could carry him. There he found many rolls of cloth which had 
been stolen. They were very much alike. He selected one which 
he felt satisfied was his. But how could he prove it? In doubt 
and perplexity he called on his neighbor Stetson. 

" 'Friend Stetson,' said he, ' I have found a piece of cloth which 
I am sure is the one which was stolen from me. But how to prove 
it is the question. Can you tell me how? ' 

" • You don't want it unless it is really yours? ' 

11 ' Certainly not.' 

" 'And you want proof that is plain, simple, and such as will sat- 
isfy yourself and everybody? ' 

" 'Precisely so.' 

11 ' Well, then, take Bible proof.' 

" ' Bible proof! Pray, what is that? » 

" * Take your cloth to the tenter-hooks on which it was stretched, 
and if it be yours every hook will just fit the hole through which 
it passed before being taken down. There will be scores of such 
hooks, and if the hooks and the holes just come together tight, no 
other proof will be wanted that the cloth is yours.' 

" Away he went, and sure enough, every hook came to its little 
hole, and the cloth was proved to be his. The tenter-hooks were 
the very best evidence that could be had. 

" Some days after this, Walsh met his friend again. 

"'I say, Stetson,' said he, ' what did you mean, the other day, by 
calling the tenter-hooks ' Bible proof? ' I am sure if I had as good 
evidence for the Bible as I had for my cloth, I should never doubt 
it again.' 

" 'You have the same, only better, for the Bible.' 

"'How so?' 

"'Put it on the tenter-hooks. Take the Bible and travel with 
it; go to the place where it was made. There you will find the Red 
Sea, the Jordan, the Lake of Galilee, Mount Lebanon, Hermon, 
Carmel, Tabor and Gerizim ; there you will find the cities of Da- 
mascus, Hebron, Tyre, Sidon and Jerusalem. Every mountain, 
every river, every sheet of water mentioned in the Bible is there, 
just as the Bible speaks of it. Sinai and the desert and the Dead 
Sea are there. The holes and the hooks come together exactly. 
The best guide-book through that country is the Bible. It must 



230 HAND-BOOK OF CHEISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

have been written on the spot, just as your cloth must have been 
made and stretched on your tenter-hooks. That land is the mould 
in which the Bible is cast, and when you bring the land and the 
book together, they fit to perfection.' 

" Walsh felt the force of this argument, and gave up his infidel- 
ity, and began to read the Bible with an interest he never had felt 
in it before." 

In the third place, The circumstance that there 
are several of these books, and that they corroborate 
and explain each other, is proof, conclusive and irrer 
futable, that they are credible and trustworthy his- 
tories. In order to the proper appreciation of this 
argument, it must be remembered that the Gospels 
are separate and distinct books, just as much so as 
though they never had been placed together in one 
volume. It must be remembered that they are four 
different narratives, penned by four different writers, 
and that Acts of Apostles is a continuation of the his- 
tory, written by the author of one of the Gospels. 
These writers, then, as that able jurist, Mr. Greenleaf , 
remarks, should be admitted in corroboration of each 
other as readily as Josephus and Tacitus or Polybius 
and Livy. But they not only agree with and corrobor- 
ate each other, but they actually explain and illustrate 
each other. There are many incidental allusions and 
undesigned coincidences in these books that could not 
possibly have occurred unless the writers had a common 
body of real facts from which to draw their state- 
ments. Out of the numerous examples that might be 
given, I select a few. 

Matthew says, "when Jesus heard that John was 
cast into prison he departed into Galilee; " but he has 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 231 

nowhere informed us that John was cast into prison. 
But when we turn to Luke, he informs us that Herod 
"added yet this above all, that he shut up John in 
prison; " and Mark gives us similar information. — 
Matt, iv : 12 ; Mark i : 14 ; Luke iii: 20. 

Mark informs us that the suborned witnesses in 
the trial of Christ accused him of saying, " I will 
destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days 

I will build another made without hands ;" but we 
could never learn from his narrative upon what state- 
ment of Jesus the accusation was founded. But John, 
in the early part of his record, relates a conversation 
that explains it. In reply to the Jews, when they 
asked for a sign, Jesus said, " Destroy this temple, 
and in three days I will raise it up " — alluding to the 
temple of his body. — Mark xiv : 58; John ii: 19. 

Luke says when Christ came to Nazareth where he 
had been brought up, he told them they would say, 

II whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also 
here in thy country; " but he has not yet informed us 
that Jesus was ever in Capernaum. Matthew, how- 
ever, informs us that he " dwelt there," and performed 
"mighty works" there. — Luke iv:23; Matt, iv: 
13: xi: 23. 

John, throughout his book, supposes the Savior to 
be accompanied by " twelve disciples ," and he men- 
tions a few of them by name ; but he no where states 
that Jesus selected any special " twelve " nor does he 
give us a list of them. The other three evangelists, 



232 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

however, record the selection of the hcelve, and furnish 
catalogues of their names. And it happens, whenever 
John mentions one of them, it is one found in the 
catalogue preserved by the other writers. — John vii : 
68-71; xx : 24, and other places; Matt, x: 1; Mark 
iii: 14; Luke vi: 12. 

Acts of Apostles alludes to the suicidal death of 
Judas as a well known event, and mentions the fact 
that a field was purchased with the reward of his in- 
iquitous betrayal; but the author, Luke, nowhere 
records the death of Judas, nor gives any particulars in 
regard to that " field," why it was bought, nor how 
much was paid for it — the omission is not supplied 
even in the Gospel written by Luke. But when we 
turn to Matthew, we find a full account of the trans- 
action — the particulars of the traitor's death, the 
amount paid for the field, and the object of its pur- 
chase. — Acts i: 16-25; Matt, xxvii: 3-10. 

Such remarkable coincidences prove beyond all per- 
adventure that there was a general fountain of historic 
truth from which each of these writers drank; and 
establish most conclusively that these ^ve books are 
fair and faithful representations of what actually 
occurred. There is no possibility of evading this con- 
clusion. It cannot be said that the books were written 
by one man, for their style is confessedly different, 
and the specific aim of the writers manifestly varies, 
though their general purpose is the same. Matthew 
evidently wrote for Jews, to prove the proposition that 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 233 

Jesus is the Messiah. Mark wrote for a similar pur- 
pose, but to a different class of readers. John wrote 
to prove that Jesus Messiah is the Son of God. — 
John xx : 31. While Luke wrote for the avowed pur- 
pose of informing his friend Theophilus just what 
things were universally accepted as certain by the 
Christians at the time he wrote. — Luke i: 1-4. Nor 
can it be said that these writers colluded for the pur- 
pose of deception, for no badges of fraud appear. 
Besides, there are some seeming contradictions, and 
many apparent discrepancies. Had there been any 
collusion between these biographers, the least shadow 
of discrepancy would not be visible in all their writ- 
ings. The very fact that some things appear to be 
discrepant shows that these writers wrote indepen- 
dently of each other, and that they paid no regard 
to anything but truth. 

The strength of this circumstantial argument can 
not be over-estimated. Suppose that after eighteen 
hundred years have passed away, dating from the 
present time, the late war in America should be denied 
with all its bloody realities. Suppose then that Gree- 
ley's "Conflict " should be found and read; would not 
that be evidence of it? But, suppose it were said to 
be fiction, would not the production of Stephens' 
"War Between the States" confirm the other, and 
prove it to be real history ? And when two more ac- 
counts were read, one written by Schmucker and the 
other by Pollard, would not the four histories corrob- 



234 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

orate and prove the claims of each other? and would 
not their general agreement put all doubt forever to 
rest, and establish conclusively the fact that there had 
been such a war as claimed ? And if these four his- 
tories were found to differ in some respects and pre- 
sent even real discrepancies, would that prove them all 
to be false or legendary? Would it not, on the other 
hand, strengthen the quarternion, by precluding the 
idea of collusion ? Most assuredly it would ? Then if 
it were found that another history had been written by 
one of the quartette, giving an account of affairs and 
transactions after the termination of the war, that 
would make the case still stronger, especially if the 
actions of the same men who had figured in the war 
were therein recorded. Then suppose that there were 
found to be many undesigned coincidences in those 
books, such as I have adduced from the Evangelists, 
would not the evidence be as strong as strength itself, 
and as invincible as eternal and unchanging truth? 
Then, if the books supposed had been bound together 
in one volume for centuries, it would not alter the 
case, nor weaken their separate testimony. There is 
no sane man, whatever might be his religious opinions, 
but what would admit everything claimed in the case 
supposed. Then why not give full weight to the evi- 
dence in the case of the Evangelists? The cases are 
most assuredly parallel ! 

Then, again, suppose that Luke's history, written to 
Theophilus, had laid in the vaults of antiquity, un- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 235 

known till the present century, and then, for the first 
time, come to light. The controversy would, in that 
case, have been altogether over the other three. Well, 
then, when Luke's writings were discovered, published 
to the world, and proved to have been written in the 
apostolic age, would not that settle the controversy 
forever? Most undoubtedly it would ! The world 
would say, " Here is a document, written by a man in 
that age, telling some distinguished friend of his, by 
the name of Theophilus, just what was universally ac- 
cepted as true by the very earliest Christians ! And 
he corroborates the writings we have been disputing 
over for centuries." If any doubt then existed, it 
would be eternally quieted when the " Acts of Apos- 
tles " were found and published in the same manner. 
Well, Luke's writings possess just the same real weight 
that they would possess if they were just now, for the 
first time published to the world, if, indeed, they do 
not possess more, and they are just as much entitled 
to be received in corroboration of the other Evangel- 
ists. The same reasoning would apply to Matthew, 
Mark or John. This line of argument I deem conclu- 
sive ; so much so, indeed, that I would be compelled 
to accept these writers as reliable historians, if I had 
no other evidence than the support which each member 
of the quartette gives to the others when considered as 
a trio. 

Further proof could be adduced, and arguments 
might be multiplied. But it is unnecessary. My prop 



236 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

osition has been sustained. When an attorney in 
court has shown that the testimony of his own wit- 
nesses presents a solid phalanx of evidence in favor of 
his client ; that their testimony is corroborated by ad- 
verse witnesses, and that even some of the material 
points are conceded by opposing counsel ; and that the 
circumstances in the case are favorable to his cause, in 
so much so that there are circumstances which can not 
be accounted for, if a verdict is rendered against his 
client; I say, when an attorney has done this, he has 
done all that it is possible to do in the way of proving 
an allegation. That is exactly what I have attempted 
to do in the case in hand. Of course, the reader is the 
arbiter in the case, and it is for him to decide to what 
extent I have succeeded. But if I do not over-estimate 
results, it has been shown — 

1. That the Christian testimony is an unbroken 
phalanx in favor of the credibility of the historic books 
of the New Testament. 

2. That this testimony is corroborated by opposing 
witnesses, and that many points material to the allega- 
tion have been admitted by the advocates of Infidelity. 

3. And that the circumstantial evidence is in favor 
of these books, in so much so that there are circum- 
stances that cannot be accounted for upon any hypo- 
thesis other than that they are credible and trustworthy. 

I shall, therefore, conclude that the proposition, at 
the head of this chapter, "That the historical books 
of the New Testament are credible and trustworthy," 
is fully sustained, and in future chapters of this work 
will reason accordingly. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 237 




CHAPTER II. 

Jesus of Nazareth Arose From the Dead. 

HE following facts are admitted by all parties 
| to the controversy : 

1. There was such a person as Jesus of Naz- 
^ J areth. 

2. He lived at the time ascribed to him in the New 
Testament. 

3. He was put to death under Pontius Pilate, in the 
reign of Tiberius Caesar. 

4. His dead body was taken from the cross, and laid 
in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. 

5. A huge stone was rolled to the entrance, and the 
tomb securely guarded. 

6. Upon the morning of the first Sunday after the 
crucifixion, his body was missing from the tomb. 

No one of these points was ever called in question 
by any friend or foe of Jesus for many centuries after 
his crucifixion ; and to show that they are conceded by 
candid Infidels of modern times, I quote one of their 
best authorities, Ernest Renan. He says: — 

"Jesus was laid in the vault; the stone was rolled to the entrance, 
etc." * * * " On Sunday morning, the woman, Mary Magdalme 
first of all, came very early to the tomb. The stone was rolled away 
from the opening, and the body was no longer in the place where 



238 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

they had laid it. At the same time, the strangest reports began to 
spread through the Christian community. The cry, <He is risen! ' 
ran among the disciples like lightning." — Life of Jesus, p. 356. 

That the Gospel Narratives possess value, as his- 
toric documents, I have proved in the previous chapter. 
This is, also, generally admitted, and was never ques- 
tioned, even by the enemies of Jesus, for many cen- 
turies after they were written. Here, then, we have 
a basis of historic fact upon which to reason — a 
general agreement, among the friends and foes of 
Jesus, that he was crucified, his body laid in the tomb, 
and, on Sunday, it was missing. The whole fabric of 
the Christian religion rests upon the solution of one 
question: " What became of the body?" Upon this 
question unanimity gives way, and the parties to the 
controversy are as wide apart as the poles. The foes 
of Jesus claim that his body was stolen by his disci- 
ples. On the other hand, his friends maintain that he 
arose from the dead. Here is a square issue, upon a 
plain matter of fact ; and everything depends upon its 
solution. If it is shown that his body was stolen, the 
foundation of the Christian Temple is removed, and 
the whole superstructure must fall. But, if he revived 
and rose again, then the Christian edifice is an impreg- 
nable bulwark, which all the powers of earth and 
hell cannot overturn. We should, therefore, examine 
the facts with care, and weigh everything bearing on 
the case with an earnest desire to know the truth. 

We shall first examine the position of Christ's 
enemies. Upon what evidence do they rest their claim 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 239 

that his body was stolen? Upon the testimony of 
some of the guards, 

11 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the 
chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying: Sir, 
we remember that that deceiver said, while he was j r et alive, After 
three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepul- 
chre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by 
night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from 
the dead ; so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate 
said unto them, Ye have a watch ; go your way, make it as sure as 
ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the 
stone, and setting a watch. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began 
to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene 
and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a 
great earthquake ; for the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, 
and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. 
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead 
men. ****** 

Now, when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into 
the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were 
done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had 
taken counsel, they gave large money to the soldiers, saying: Say 
ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 
And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and 
secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught; 
and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this 
day." — Matt, xxvii: 62-66; xxviii:l-4; 11-15. 

This common report, that the disciples stole the 
body while the soldiers slept, was currently reported 
among the enemies of Jesus, and when the disciples 
went forth and proclaimed his resurrection they never 
attempted to set up any other counter-hypothesis, or 
interpose any opposing testimony save that of the 
guards. This is the strongest case that the foes of 
Jesus could make. If they could have discovered a 
more plausible explanation of the disappearance of the 
body, their active enmity would have led them to 



240 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

present it. The strength, then, of Infidelity, depends 
upon the strength of the testimony of those guards. 
And that strength is the veriest weakness. For to 
say nothing of their contradictory statements, telling 
first one story and then another ; and to waive the 
charge of bribery, this testimony bears prima facie 
evidence of falsehood and absurdity. 

In the first place, they testify to the occurrence of 
the very thing that they were stationed around the 
tomb to prevent. They say the body was "stolen." 
That is exactly what they were placed there to pre- 
vent. It was remembered that Jesus said he would 
rise again, and the soldiers were stationed at the tomb 
for the express purpose of preventing his disciples 
from stealing the body and persuading the people that 
he was risen. Now, if they had said that the dis- 
ciples had unexpectedly rallied a large force, and had 
overpowered them and taken the body by force, their 
story would have possessed some degree of plausi- 
bility. But when they say that the very thing hap- 
pened that they anticipated and were guarding against, 
their testimony becomes so unreasonable as to be 
unworthy of any credit whatever. 

In the second place, why did they allow the body 
to be stolen ? They say that they were asleep ! 
Asleep? A whole guard -of Roman soldiers asleep on 
duty? The very idea is monstrously absurd! Did 
they not know that it would disgrace them forever? 
Or were they lost to all sense of shame? Nay, did 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 241 

they not know that it was death under the Koman 
law to go to sleep on duty? And would they have 
disregarded all sense of honor and fear of the penalty, 
and all have gone to sleep at once? No sane man 
can believe it. Now, just suppose for a moment that 
the body had been stolen while the guards were all 
asleep, would they have reported it? Far from it. 
They would have skulked away like sheep-killing 
canines, and made no report at all. Or, if they re- 
ported at all, they would have endeavored to excul- 
pate themselves. Think of a body of soldiers sta- 
tioned around a stable to prevent a fine horse from 
being stolen. After several days the door is found 
standing open, the stable vacant, the horse gone ! 
They make their report. It is " that the thieves 
came and stole him while they were asleep." What 
would be thought of them, and what would be done 
with them ? Would any one for a moment credit their 
report ? 

In the third place, witnesses are incompetent to 
testify to what transpired while they were asleep. 
Imagine a witness in court attempting to identify the 
thieves who stole his horse. He says he knows they 
are the men. " What were you doing when they stole 
him?" " I was asleep." If the soldiers were asleep 
when the body of Christ disappeared from the tomb, 
as they say they were, they were incompetent to 
testify as to what caused its disappearance. They 
could not tell whether his disciples stole it, or some 

16 



24:2 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

one else, or whether it revived and walked out. It is 
unnecessary to consider their testimony any further, 
as it bears evidence of falsity upon its face. 

Having seen that the hypothesis of the enemies of 
Jesus is false, we now turn our attention to the second 
hypothesis, that of his friends, that he actually rose 
from the dead. Who are the witnesses? The apos- 
tles and many other disciples, including in all about 
five hundred. They testify that they saw him and 
conversed with him after his resurrection, and that 
some of them ate with him and handled him, and that 
he ascended into the clouds of heaven in the presence 
of a number of them. Now, I remark concerning 
these witnesses, that one of three things must neces- 
sarily be true in regard to them : — 

1. They were deceived — thinking they saw Jesus 
alive, when they did not; or, 

2. They were dishonest, and desired to deceive 
others, making them believe they saw Jesus, when they 
did not; or, 

3. They were honest and competent witnesses, and 
Jesus did actually arise. 

Which proposition is true? 

Were these witnesses deceived? No, they could not 
have been deceived. For the appearances of Jesus 
were so frequent, and those that claimed to see him so 
numerous, and the opportunity for testing the reality 
of his appearance so good, that it were utterly impos- 
sible for them to be mistaken in regard to it. Had he 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 243 

been seen by one person only, or by several persons 
on but one occasion, there might be some room to 
doubt. But they claim that he was seen on several 
occasions and by many individuals, seen too by per- 
sons who were perfectly familiar with his person and 
knew most assuredly that it was he. He was seen no 
less than a dozen times. First, by Mary Magdalene ; 
second, by other women ; third, by Peter ; fourth, by 
two disciples as they walked into the country; fifth, 
by Cleopas and his companion; sixth, by the whole 
college of apostles, except Thomas; seventh, by all 
the apostles, including Thomas; eighth, by seven of 
them at the sea of Tiberias; ninth, by about five hun- 
dred at once ; tenth, by James alone : eleventh, by all 
the apostles at the time of the ascension ; twelfth, by 
Stephen, when he was stoned to death ; and last of all, 
by Saul of Tarsus, in consequence of which he forsook 
the religion of his fathers and became a zealous 
advocate of the cause of Jesus. In an epistle written 
afterward, this great apostle declares, "that Christ 
died for our sins according to the scriptures ; and that 
he was buried, and that he rose again the third day ac- 
cording to the scriptures; and that he was seen of 
Cephas, then of the twelve ; after that he was seen of 
above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the 
greater part remain unto this present; but some are 
fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James ; then 
of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me 
also, as of one born out of due time. ,, — 1 Cor. xv : 3-8. 



244 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Thus, it is seen that he appeared on different occa- 
sions, and to different numbers of persons; sometimes 
to one, sometimes to two, sometimes to three, seven, 
or a dozen, and on one occasion, to hundreds of persons 
at once. He was seen, too, by a variety of persons, 
persons in the various positions of society, or walks of 
life, from ordinary men and women, through a higher 
class, like Matthew, the publican, up to the learned 
and erudite, Saul of Tarsus. He was seen by persons 
of different styles of mind. Not only did he appear 
to affectionate, warm-hearted, credulous women, but 
to cool, calculating, skeptical men, like Thomas Didy- 
mus, who must see the prints of the nails in his hands, 
and the gash of the spear in his side, before believing. 
Not only so, but he was seen under a great variety of 
circumstances — sometimes after night ; sometimes in 
open daylight. Not only on the earth, but when he 
ascended to heaven, and even after he ascended to 
heaven. Those who saw him, too, were, in the most 
cases, perfectly familiar with his features, having 
companied with him all the time the Lord Jesus went 
in and out among them, from John's baptism to his 
ascension. — Acts i: 21. His pierced hands and side 
also prevented any mistake as to his identity. Not 
only so, but they conversed with, ate with, drank with 
him, and their hands handled him. This they emphati- 
cally declare. So there was no possible chance for de- 
ception on their part. Either, Jesus rose, appeared to 
them, and ascended bodily into heaven; or, else, they 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 245 

deliberately colluded, for the purpose of palming off 
upon the world the most stupendous fraud and falsehood 
ever conceived or executed. This, Paul admits him- 
self; for he declares " if Christ be not risen, then is 
our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God." — 
1 Cor. xv:14. 

That they were themselves deceived, is utterly out 
of the question. It follows, then, that they were de- 
ceivers, or they were honest and competent witnesses, 
whose testimony, establishes the resurrection of Jesus 
beyond doubt. We pass, then, to the second point of 
the trilemma. 

Were they deceivers? 

No ! They could not have been deceivers, for 
several good and sufficient reasons : — 

1st. They had no motive to induce them to deceive. 
Sane men never do anything without a motive. And 
these disciples had no earthly motive to induce them 
to collude, for the purpose of making persons believe 
that Jesus rose, if he did not. What had they to gain 
by it? I would like some candid skeptic to tell. Can 
any mortal man conceive of any benefit that would 
accrue to the disciples by telling that Jesus rose, if it 
were false? They could gain no money or property 
by it ! No popularity or influence ! Nothing under the 
blue canopy of the heavens could they gain by telling 
it, if it were not true. On the other hand, they would 
lose all these things. So if Jesus did not rise, they 



246 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

told a deliberate falsehood, when they knew that it 
was diametrically opposed to their interests for time 
and eternity. For be it remembered that they had all 
been reared in the Jewish faith, and taught that God 
would punish the wicked, " and by no means clear the 
guilty." 

2d. Because all their teachings were opposed to 
everything like falsehood and deception. Truth was 
their watchword. And if they were deceivers, then we 
have the anomaly of a set of men constructing and en- 
forcing the best code of ethics ever known to man, 
while perpetrating the greatest fraud that was ever 
practiced upon humanity. 

3d. Every motive calculated to influence the human 
mind was against proclaiming that Jesus rose, if it 
were false. Loss of means, loss of friends, loss of 
popularity and influence, loss of liberty and loss of 
life. And worse than all, loss of a good conscience 
and self respect. If it were false, all these considera- 
tions would speak in thunder tones, and say, " Don't 
tell it!" 

4th. They gained nothing by telling it if true, ex- 
cept the peace of mind which comes with the conscious- 
ness of having performed an important duty, and the 
hope of future felicity, which the promises of their 
risen Redeemer inspired. 

5th. They gave the very highest evidences of sin- 
cerity that it were possible to give. After they com- 
menced to publish the resurrection, they found that 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 247 

it brought upon them, as a matter of fact, what they 
had reason theoretically to anticipate: " the loss of 
all things; " while it brought them nothing but suffer- 
ing, scorn and privation. If they had not been honest 
and sincere, believing that they told "the truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth," when they 
found that their story brought upon them privation 
and want, opprobrium and obloquy, hatred and malice, 
turmoil and unrest, stripes and imprisonment, incon- 
venience and death ; I say when they found this to be 
the result, they certainly would have recanted and 
told the truth, if that was not the truth which they 
published in the first instance. But, no ! Not one of 
them ever turned State' s-evidence, or changed his testi- 
mony. Could greater evidence of sincerity have been 
given? Suppose that the grave-robbers, who stole the 
body of A. T. Stewart, were as numerous as the disci- 
ples of Jesus, and suppose that they had come out 
boldly and proclaimed that Mr. Stewart had risen 
from the dead, that they had seen him, conversed with 
him, and dined with him, after his resurrection. Then 
imagine them arrested, threatened, scourged, im- 
prisoned, and some of them put to death. Would they 
not retract their former statement, and acknowledge 
that they had stolen the body? At least, would not 
some of them turn State* s-evidence, rather than endure 
so much suffering, and endanger their lives, just for 
the sake of a falsehood? Most assuredly they would. 
As soon as a few of them were imprisoned, a few 



248 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

whipped, and a single one put death, they would then 
cry, "hold, enough !" and with alacrity confess the 
truth. Human nature is the same the world over, and if 
these disciples had colluded to make people believe that 
Jesus rose, when he did not, there is no doubt but what 
they would have retracted it, when the hand of persecu- 
tion came down so heavily upon them. At least, some 
of them would have broken ranks, and told a different 
story. But, no. They all stood steadfast and im- 
movable ; and what they said first, they said last, and 
all the time ! 

The arrest and crucifixion of their master had so ter- 
rified them that they were wont to meet in an upper 
room, with closed doors, for fear of the unbelieving 
Jews. Then, when they went forth and began to 
publish the resurrection, they found that it arrayed 
against them the hostility of all the Jews, Pharisees 
and Sadducees. They, therefore, found that their 
proclamation was very unpopular, arraying against 
them the enmity and hatred of their countrymen, and 
subjecting them to rebuffs and contempt. But they 
continued to preach that Jesus had arisen. 

They then found that the loss of friendship was fol- 
lowed by threats and imprisonment. Peter and John 
were imprisoned for preaching the resurrection, and, 
when released, threatened and commanded to do so no 
more.* But still, " with great power gave the apostles 
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." — Acts 

* Acts, 4th chap. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 249 

iv: 32. And all the witnesses stood firm and immov- 
ably committed to their first testimony. 

Then the Sadducees, led by the high-priest, arrested 
all the apostles and put them in prison.* But still 
there was not one found among all the witnesses that 
would change his testimony, and say that Jesus did not 
rise. On the contrary, as soon as released, the 
apostles preached boldly in the name of the risen Jesus, 
and, in the language of their enemies : ;< filled Jerusa- 
lem with their doctrine ! " When re-arrested, they 
spoke boldly, and said: "We ought to obey God 
rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up 
Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath 
God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a 
Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgive- 
ness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things ; 
and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given 
to them that obey him." — Acts v : 29-32. 

This short speech so exasperated the persecutors that 
they resolved to slay the whole dozen of the apostles, 
and were only restrained from so doing by the wise 
and timely counsel of Dr. Gamaliel, a learned and 
influential Pharisee. But even his mild and conserva- 
tive speech was unable to restrain them from inflicting 
personal violence on the apostles, so the whole twelve 
were beaten before they were set at liberty. But, 
notwithstanding the apostles had all been subjected to 
stripes and imprisonment, and had narrowly escaped 

• Acts, 5th chap. 



250 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

with their lives, they still continued to proclaim the 
resurrection of Jesus. There was not one who would 
give different testimony, or even be silent on that, 
though strictly charged and severely threatened by 
their persecutors when released from custody. Nor 
was there one among the whole five hundred witnesses 
sufficiently terrified to cause him to change his testi- 
mony. 

But that is not all. After awhile one of the wit- 
nesses (Stephen) was stoned to death ; but even in the 
hour of death he maintained the truth of his testimony, 
and almost with his last expiring breath declared that 
he saw the risen Jesus standing on the right hand of 
God in heaven. Then an apostle (James) is put to 
death,* and another is imprisoned and his death deter- 
mined on But still all the witnesses maintain un- 
flinchingly that Jesus rose ! There is not one found 
that even death itself can cause to recant. 

The disciples find the whole Gentile world arrayed 
against them, as well as the Jews. And they meet 
with persecution, stripes, imprisonment, death, from 
both quarters. First one is killed and then another, 
until many have sealed their testimony with their 
blood !f But the witnesses all maintain their integrity 
in the face of opposition, in the face of persecution, 
and cling with an unparalleled tenacity to their declara- 
tion that Jesus rose, even despite death itself. Then, 



* Acts, 12 chap. 
f See Appendix, B 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 251 

I ask in all candor, were they honest and sincere? 
Most assuredly they were. They gave the very high- 
est conceivable evidence of honesty and sincerity. 
Whenever any one is willing to suffer as they did, and 
even to lay down his life for his cause, every reason- 
able man will readily grant that he is sincere. We have 
seen that these witnesses were willing to endure 
stripes, imprisonment, and even death, in attestation 
of the fact that Jesus rose. They were therefore 
unquestionably honest and sincere, and could not have 
been deceivers. 

The witnesses being honest and sincere, it follows 
conclusively that Jesus rose. Because we have already 
shown that it was impossible for them to be deceived 
themselves. Remember we set out with a trilemma: 
Either they were deceived, or deceivers, or honest and 
competent witnesses. Well, as I have shown that they 
could not be deceived, and that they were not deceiv- 
ers, the last hypothesis stands proved: "that they 
were honest and competent witnesses ; " and being such 
their testimony stands good, and my proposition is 
proved: " That Jesus of Nazareth arose from the 
dead." If it is not proved, nothing can be proved by 
testimony. For no transaction of antiquity rests on 
better evidence ; and there is no fact of ancient history 
better attested. 

The foregoing proof of the resurrection is so over- 
whelmingly conclusive that nothing further is needed — 
the argument needs not one additional prop. But 



252 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

there is a passage in profane history which corrobo- 
rates the proof adduced so strikingly that I cannot 
leave the subject without calling attention to it : — 

Tacitus, in the passage previously quoted, states 
that Jesus was crucified ; that his religion was then 
checked for awhile, but soon broke out again and 
spread all over Judea and reached even to Eome. — 
See Annals, book 15, chap. 14. That the death of 
Christ should check his religious movement for a 
time was the most natural thing in the world; but 
that it should soon break out again with renewed vigor 
is unaccountable, unless some new impetus were by 
some means given to it. The statement of Tacitus is 
therefore suggestive, and coincident with the sacred 
writers, according to whom the death of Messiah 
caused a pause, an awful pause as if the Universe 
stood still ! For fifty days the movement so success- 
fully inaugurated by the Nazarene, and which had 
made such a great stir in the world, was still — the 
Galilean fishermen were either noiselessly casting their 
nets into the tranquil waters of Geneseret or quietly 
housed in an upper room — but when the day of Pen- 
tecost was fully come, Jerusalem was shaken by the 
announcement that Jesus had revived again! Then, 
like a fire kindled in combustible material fully dry, 
the movement spread with rapidity till it reached 
Eome and shook the palace of the Caesars ! The res- 
urrection explains the temporary suspension of the 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 253 

movement, and the increased velocity subsequently 
given to it, which attracted the attention of the Koman 
historian. Without irresistible proof of its truth the 
story would not have received sufficient credence to 
give it such rapid and gigantic strides in the world. 

APPLICATION. 

I conclude this chapter with a few remarks concern- 
ing its application to my general subject. The resur- 
rection of Jesus from the tomb proves him to be what 
he claimed. He claimed to be the Messiah; therefore 
he is the Messiah. He claimed to be the Son of God ; 
therefore he is the Son of God. And being such, 
whatever he taught is true. The Christian Religion 
is true, for he is its head and founder. The Old 
Testament is true, for he endorsed it. The New 
Testament is true, for he told the apostles that 
his Spirit should guide them into all the truth. The 
Gospel promises are true, for he gave them. The 
faith of the Gospel is true, for he is the "author 
and finisher of x the faith." In short, since it is 
established that Jesus rose from the dead, all the 
claims of his holy religion are established, the whole 
superstructure stands unshaken and immovable; and 
we may have strong confidence, who have fled for 
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, know- 
ing in whom we have believed. And Christianity be- 
ing true, it follows that the Hero of Redemption is with 



254 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

the Father, worthy of all adoration and praise, being 
the fairest among thousands, and the one altogether 
lovely. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
and the end, the first and the last. His redeeming love 
is the sweetest and most exalted theme for tongue or 
pen, and his Church the fairest flower that blooms in 
the garden of God. 




DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 255 



CHAPTER III 



The Claims of Christ Corroborated and Confirmed 
by Concurring Circumstances and Co-incidences. 




"A thousand oracles divine 
Their common beams unite, 
That sinners may with angels join 
To worship God aright." 

—0. Wesley. 

•HEN we see a tailor thread his needle, we 
perceive that the eye of the needle and the 
point of the thread come together with pre- 
cision and naturalness. We readily discern 
the reason. There is a mind back of both, guiding 
and directing. When we stand upon a lofty eminence 
and behold a vast army performing the various mili- 
tary manoeuvres orderly and with ease ; then see them 
advance upon the fortifications of the enemy, part at- 
tacking in front, part in rear, and part on right or 
left; we see the same principle on a larger scale. The 
thought at once suggests itself that there is one mind 
controlling all the movements of the various divisions 
of the army. 

Furthermore, when we see a steam-flouring mill in 
operation, we can trace all of the machinery and the 



256 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

various fixtures to the millstones. We readily per- 
ceive that one mind arranged everything with refer- 
ence to those and the work which they perform, from 
the boiler to the hopper ; and that the bolting-machine 
and all the contrivances connected with the flour after 
it is ground, are arranged for the purpose of complet- 
ing the work begun by the millstones. In other words, 
that there is unity and design in the arrangements and 
mechanism of a flouring mill, and that the millstones 
are the centre of that unity. 

When we turn our attention from art to nature we 
find the same great principles prevailing. When we 
scan the foot-prints of creation, we are impressed 
with the thought that everything was made with refer- 
ence to man ; that he is the grand central figure with 
reference to which every thiug was created, and for 
whose benefit all things were brought into being. We 
see him typified and foreshadowed in all the animals 
which were by successive steps brought into existence 
before his creation. Then, after his creation we see 
the various animals serving him and administering to 
his wants. This great truth is taught, not by sacred 
history only, but by science as well. Prof. Owen 
says: — 

"All the parts and organs of man had been sketched out in anti- 
cipation, so to speak, in the inferior animals; and the recognition 
of an ideal exemplar in the vertebrated animals, proves that the 
knowledge of such a being as man must have existed before man 
appeared. For the Divine Mind which planned the archetjnpe also 
foreknew all its modifications. The archetypal idea was manifested 
in the flesh long prior to the creation of man." 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 257 

Further on, this eloquent writer remarks : — 

"We learn from the past history of our globe that she has ad- 
vanced with slow and steady steps, guided by the archetypal light 
amidst the wreck of worlds from the first embodiment of Ihe verte- 
brate idea under its old ichthyic vestment, until it became arranged 
in the glorious garb of the human form." — Hilligari's Scheme of 
Redemption, pages 146 and 147. 

That most eminent scientist, Prof. Agassiz, says: — 

"The plan of man's organization begins with the fish, and we 
can trace it through the successive geological formations. * * * 
Is it then too muehto say that when the first vertebrate was called 
into existence in the shape of a fish, it was part of the plan of that 
framework into which its life was moulded that it should end with 
man, the last and the highest in the order of succession." — 
Graham Lectures, pages 107, 138. 

Now, as the creation and career of man is the cen- 
tral idea in the physical world, so the advent and work 
of Christ is central in the moral and spiritual universe. 
Other religions foreshadowed and typified his religion, 
as other animals foreshadowed and typified man. And 
since his advent all the great events of history have 
been subservient to him, as the inferior animals are 
subservient to man. 

Prof. Tyler very truly says : — 

"As the earth was manifestly being made and prepared for man 
during all the ages before he was placed upon it, and all the lower 
forms of existence now minister to him, so all the ages of human 
history prior to Christianity, and the progress of society and the 
march of history since, all tends to the gradual establishment and 
final consummation of this highest form of the civilization of man 
and of the kingdom of God." — Theology of the Greek Poets, p. 3. 

Any man who penetrates the earth with the Bible in 
his hand, as Hugh Miller did, and compares the " tes- 
timony of the rocks " with the revelations of the Rock 
of Ages and the facts of history cannot fail to be im- 

l 



258 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

pressed with this grand truth. That eminent scientist 

says: — 

"No sooner had the first Adam appeared and fallen than a new 
school of prophecy began, in which type and symbol were mingled 
with what had now its first existence on earth, verbal enunciations, 
and all pointed to the second Adam, the Lord from heaven. In him 
creation and the Creator meet in reality, and not in mere semblance, 
as in the first Adam. On the very apex of the finished pyramid of 
being sits the adorable Monarch of all, as the son of Mary, of Da- 
vid, of the first Adam, the created of God, the eternal Creator of 
the Universe. And these, the two Adams, form the main theme of 
all prophecy both natural and revealed. And that type and symbol 
should have been employed with reference not only to the second, 
but to the first Adam; also, exemplifies, we are disposed to think, 
the unity of the style of Deity, and serves to show that it was He 
who created the worlds that dictated the Scriptures." — Footprints 
of the Creator, as quoted by Pres. Milligan, Sch. of Bed., p. 140. 

Before the coming of Christ we see a wonderful 
preparation for him everywhere — in Hebrew religion, 
in Greek culture, and in Roman jurisprudence and 
politics. The Jews furnished pupils to sit at the feet 
of the Great Teacher, and transmit his sublime teach- 
ings to mankind, as well as technicalities and illustra- 
tions to aid in setting forth the grand ideas of his 
kingdom; the Greeks furnished the language in which 
to express those grand ideas ; while the Romans con- 
quered all nations and furnished the heralds of the 
cross a universal empire in which to operate. Besides, 
all nations contributed toward the creation of a uni- 
versal longing for the "Coming One," called in the 
Old Testament the " Desire of all Nations." 

The preparation for him among the Jews was, as 
Prof. Schaff observes, mostly positive, but partly 
negative ; while among the Gentile nations it was 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 259 

mostly negative, but also in some measure positive. 
While the Israelites had their Moses, and their long 
line of prophets, other nations had such men as Zoro- 
aster, Confucius, Socrates, Epimenedes, et al. 9 who 
were no doubt raised up in the good providence of 
God to be temporary teachers of their countrymen, and 
to point them forward to one greater than they, the 
latchet of whose shoes they were not worthy to stoop 
down and loose. While God " made known his ways 
unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel/ ' he 
"left not himself without witness " among other na- 
tions. While Israel beheld the full-orbed moon, other 
nations were lighted on their journey by the twinkling 
stars. But in neither case did God vouchsafe any 
more light than was necessary to lead the world to the 
"True Light," which came to earth to illumine 
every man. Just as in the creation the darkness pre- 
ceded the light, and the evening came before the day, 
so history presents to us the progress of religious de- 
velopment. The coming of Christ was preceded by 
the world's night. Darkness hung like a pall over the 
inhabitants of the whole earth. The moon, however, 
was shining in Israel, and away off in the heathen 
world there twinkled innumerable stars. At length 
the Sun of Righteousness arose — his rays dispelled 
the night, eclipsed the stars, and caused the moon to 
appear but dimly. This figure holds good throughout. 
"The darkest hour is just before day." And all 
the systems of religion and morality had before the 



260 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

coming of Christ begun to wax old and decay, and 
were like an old garment ready to be folded up and 
laid aside — the Jews had corrupted their religion and 
divided into conflicting sects, while the surrounding 
nations were sinking in vice in spite of their philoso- 
phers and moralists. The brief period from John the 
Baptist to the resurrection of Christ corresponds to the 
aurora which precedes the rising sun and announces his 
approach. The sun was first seen when Jesus rose 
from the dead, and shown forth in all his golden splen- 
dor when the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost — 
since then the world enjoys the light of day. And as 
the moon is sometimes obscured by clouds, so the 
Mosaic religion before the coming of Messiah was 
sometimes obscured by the prevalence of idolatry or 
national captivity. And as the sun is sometimes ob- 
scured by clouds, so the bright light of Christianity has 
to some extent been bedimmed by error and supersti- 
tion. But it is very easy to distinguish day from night, 
even if the sun is not visible ; and if any man fails to 
see that the Christian era is an improvement upon 
everything that preceded it, it is because he is not 
familiar with history. 

The history of the world before Christ is, to a large 
extent, the history of Messianic preparation. One 
event followed another to fit the world for his coming. 
As Neander says in substance, the world was prepared 
for Christ by the great co-operative events of many 
past centuries. The Mosaic law and the enunciation 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 2G1 

of prophets, the Jewish dispersion and the translation 
of the Scriptures, Greek culture and Roman domin- 
ion, the teachings of philosophers and the maxims of 
sages, the responses of oracles and the noise of Sibyls, 
national intercourse and commercial relations, all united 
harmoniously to prepare the world for a universal law- 
giver, and a higher, nobler, sublimer, and more effec- 
tive religion, Consequently, when Christ came, they 
were expecting him. The world was longing for such 
a teacher. Prof. Schaff says the best feature of that 
age was a " religious yearning, which takes refuge from 
the turmoil and pain of life in the sanctuary of hope, 
but, unable to supply its own wants, is compelled to 
seek salvation entirely beyond itself." Hear him fur- 
ther : — 

" Expectations of the coming of a Messiah in various forms and 
degrees of clearness were at that time, by the political, intellectual, 
and religious contact and collision of the nations, spread over the 
whole world, and, like the first red streaks upon the horizon, an- 
nounced the approach of day. The Persians were looking for their 
Sosiosch, who was to conquer Ahriman and his kingdom of dark- 
ness. The Chinese sage, Confucius, pointed his disciples to a Holy 
Oue, who should appear in the West. The wise astrologers who 
came to Jerusalem to worship the new-born king of the Jews 
(Matt, ii: 1 sqq.) we must look upon as the noblest representatives 
of the Messianic hopes of the Oriental heathen. The western na- 
tions, on the contrary, looked toward the East, the land of the ris- 
ing sun, and of all wisdom. Suetonius and Tacitus speak of a 
current saying in the Roman Empire, that in the East, and more 
particularly in Judea, a new universal empire would soon be 
founded." * — Apostolic Churchy pp. 183, 184. 

The statement of Suetonius (Suet. Vespas., ch. 4) 

* " That these historians falsely apply the saying to Vespasian, is alto- 
gether immaterial here." — Schaff. 



262 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

and Tacitus {Hist, v: 13), alluded to by the learned 

historian, is also made by Josephus, as follows: — 

"But that which principally encouraged them to war, was an 
ambiguous oracle, found also in their sacred writings, that some 
one of their country should obtain the empire of the world." — 
Wars, B. 6, c. v., sec. 4. 

A while before the coming of Christ, the general 

expectation was beautifully expressed by the poet, 

Virgil : — 

" The last age, decreed by fate, is come ; 
And a new frame of all things does begin. 
A holy progeny from heaven descends, 
Auspicious be his birth! which puts an end 
To th' iron age! and from whence shall rise 
A golden state far glorious through the earth." 

— Virgil, Ec. 4. 

Not only was Christ's coming preceded by prepara- 
tion and paralleled by expectation, but his religion 
proved a grand success. Not only did all the streams 
of history flow to him, but he gathered them up and 
turned them into another channel. Despite all his 
skepticism, the historian, Gibbon, is constrained to 
say: — 

" A candid but rational inquiry into the progress and establishment 
of Christianity may be considered a very essential part of the history 
of the Roman Empire. While the great body was invaded by open 
violence, or undermined by slow decay, a pure and humble religion 
gently insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in silence 
and obscurity, derived new vigor from opposition, and finally erected 
the triumphant banner of the cross on the ruins of the Capitol. Nor 
was the influence of Christianity confined to the limits of the Roman 
Empire. After a revolution of thirteen or fourteen centuries, that 
religion is still professed by the nations of Europe, the most dis- 
tinguished portion of the human kind in arts and learning, as well 
as in arms. By the industry and zeal of the Europeans, it has been 
diffused to the most distant shores of Asia and Africa, and by means 
of their colonies has been firmly established from Canada to Chili, 
in a world unknown to the ancients." — Decline aud Fall of the 
Boman Empire, ch. 15, p. 504, 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 263 

Judge Jeremiah S. Black, in his reply to Ingersoll, 
in the North American Review rises to the heights of 
logic and eloquence when he comes to speak of the 
advent of Christ. We quote: — 

"When Jesus of Nazareth announced himself to be Christ, the 
Son of God, in Judea, many thousand persons who heard his words 
and saw his works believed in his divinity without hesitation. Since 
the morning of the creation nothing has occurred so wonderful as 
the rapidity with which this religion spread itself abroad. Men who 
were in the noon of life when Jesus was put to death as a male- 
factor lived to see him worshipped as God by organized bodies of 
believers in every province in the Roman empire. In a few more 
years it took complete possession of the general mind, supplanted 
all other religions, and wrought a radical change in human society. 
It did this in the face of obstacles which, according to every human 
calculation, were insurmountable. It was antagonized by all the 
evil propensities, the sensual wickedness, and vulgar crimes of the 
multitude, as well as the polished vices of the luxurious classes ; and 
was most violently opposed even by those sentiments and habits of 
thought which were esteemed virtuous, such as patriotism and mil- 
itary heroism. It encountered not only the ignorance of supersti- 
tion, but the learning and philosophy, the poetry, eloquence and art 
of the time. Barbarism and civilization were alike its deadly 
enemies. The priesthood of every established religion and the 
authority of every government were arrayed against it. All these, 
combined together and roused to ferocious hostility, were over- 
come, not by the enticing words of man's wisdom, but by the simple 
presentation of a pure and peaceful doctrine, preached by obscure 
strangers at the daily peril of their lives. Is it Mr. Ingersoll's idea 
that this happened by chance, like the creation of the world? If not, 
there are but two other ways to account for it; either the evidence 
by which the apostles were able to prove the supernatural origin of 
the gospel was overwhelming and irresistible, or else its propaga- 
tion was provided for and carried on by the direct aid of the Divine 
Being Himself. Between these two, Infidelity may make its own 
choice." 

And, with all his Infidelity, Ernest Renan says: — 

11 By an exceptional destiny, pure Christianity presents itself at 
the end of eighteen centuries with the character of a universal and 
eternal religion." — Life of Jesus. 

After thus expressing the conviction that Christian- 



264 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

ity will be eternal in its duration, he gives the reason. 
He says: — 

" It is because in fact the religion of Jesus is, in some respects, 
the final religion." — Life of Jesus, p. 365. 

Yes, and this mighty religion is still moving majesti- 
cally on, and idolatry and superstition melt before it 
like snow before the summer sun. Cheering reports 
come from the distant islands of the sea. Mr. Inglis, 
missionary to islands in the South Pacific Ocean, says 
when he went to Aneitum, 25 years ago, there was not 
a widow on that island, because they were doomed to 
death when their husband died, and their corpse thrown 
into the sea with his ; but that the * ' horrible practice 
has entirely disappeared under the Christianizing in- 
fluence of the missionaries; " the inhabitants having 
become Christians. Thirty-six years ago the island of 
Samoa had a population of 34,000 idolaters. Now the 
population is 80,000; all nominal, and many practical , 
Christians. — Christian Standard, Jan. 11, 1879. I 
clip the following from an Infidel paper : — 

"Moncure D. Conway writes from London: The many investiga- 
tions into the affairs of India, now going on, show that the freedom 
and immunity from religious coercion which English supremacy 
have superinduced in that country, is playing havoc with the old 
deities. The people must for some time have been inwardly 
alienated from their gods, so long served and sacrified to without 
returning to quid pro quo of health and wealth, and now that they 
are free to abandon, they do so right and left, and the priesthood 
are at their wits' end to find gods to prop their falling influence." — 
Common Sense, Aug. 15, 1877. 

A faithful survey of Mr. Adams' Map of History, 
and a candid comparison of events before, at the time, 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 265 

and since Christ, at once demonstrates the truth that 
Jesus is the key of all history. Even Infidels are fre- 
quently impressed with this thought, and some of them 
are frank enough to admit it. Renan says : — 

"All history is incomprehensible without him." — Life of Jesus 
p. 50. 

Another distinguished Infidel, Mr. B. W. Richmond, 
says: — 

" That Christ represents the moral centre of our earth, I fully be- 
lieve. His moral maxims can not be altered or made clearer by any 
possible form of words." 

Then, as though calling to mind the long train of 

prophecies fulfilled in Jesus, and the fulfillment of 

predictions uttered by him, he continues : — 

11 1 believe in the law of prophecy as inherent in the human 
mind." 

Then, seeming to remember the high claims of Jesus 

and the wonderful influence which he has exerted 

upon humanity, he adds : — 

" Christ is the moral centre of the universe." — Richmond and 
Brittan Debate, p. 256. 

Such a view of the subject as we have before us, 
maintains the steady progress of mankind in religion, 
from an age of formalities and ceremonies, to an era 
of simplicity and symmetrical development. It asserts 
the continuity of God's interest in the human family, 
and we are permitted to feel nearly every link of the 
chain which binds the worshippers of our day to those 
of the remotest antiquity, on the one hand, and those 
of the latest posterity on the other. It at once shows 



266 HAND-BOOK OF CHEISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Christianity to be, to use the language of Walter Scott, 

" of such a nature and character as necessarily and 

legitimately links it to the faith of all nations in all 

ages." — Great Demonstration, p. 20. 

Such a view is calculated, as the very learned and 

philosophic Dr. Cocker expresses it: — 

" To deepen and vivify our faith in the Christian system of truth, 
by showing that it does not rest solely on a special class of facts, 
but upon all the facts of nature and humanity ; that its authority 
does not repose alone on the peculiar and supernatural events 
which transpired in Palestine, but also on the still broader founda- 
tion of the ideas and laws of the reason, and the common wants 
and instinctive yearnings of the human heart.* * * * The 
course and constitution of nature, the whole current of history, and 
the entire development of human thought in the ages anterior to 
the advent of the Redeemer center in, and can only be interpreted 
by, the the purpose of redemption." — Christianity and Greek 
Philosophy. 

And what this able writer says of the "ages ante- 
rior to the advent of the Redeemer," is equally true of 
the epochs of history since the advent. Events before 
Christ, point forward to him; events in the time of 
Christ, cluster around him; events since Christ, point 
back to him. With this conception before the mind, 
I will now present a few particulars in detail: — 

A. — The hatred between the ancient Jews and other 
nations was inveterate. The Jews had " no dealings 
with the Samaritan's," nor with the Gentiles. 
1. But notwithstanding the antipathy of the He- 
brews towards other nations, their ancient prophets 
rose superior to all national considerations, and fore- 
told that the Gentiles should trust in the Messiah and 
share the blessings of his reign. Is. xi: 10; lx: 35; 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 2G7 

lxv:l; Joel ii:32; Deut. xxxii:43; Ps. lxvi: 1-4; 
cxvii: 1; Micah iv: 1-3; Jer. xvi: 19; Compare 
Romans xv: 12. 

2. When Jesus was born an old prophet declared 
that he should be " a light to lighten the Gentiles ! " 
as well as the glory of Israel (Luke ii: 32); and 
Christ himself told the Jews: "other sheep I have 
which are not of this fold ; them also I must bring, 
and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one 
fold, and one Shepherd." — John x: 16. 

3. When the time came to disciple the Gentiles, 
there was not a man among all the apostles of Jesus 
that was fully competent to perform the work neces- 
sary to be done. John was too mild. James was too 
much interested in the welfare of his own country- 
men. Peter had the courage, but lacked the ability. 
They all lacked the proper education. It required a 
man of profound learning, indomitable energy, untir- 
ing zeal, unswerving fidelity, unflinching courage and 
remarkable prudence. Such a man was Saul of Tar- 
sus. He was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and 
possessed his teacher's wisdom and prudence. Be- 
sides, he had the advantage of being a young man in 
the prime of life and vigor of youth. Though a He- 
brew of the Hebrews, he was raised in a Gentile city, 
and was conversant with Greek and Roman literature. 
He understood the wants of the Gentiles and their 
disposition. He was the very man to take hold of the 
divine religion of Jesus Messiah, and establish it firmly 



268 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

in the Roman Empire. He could address Jews and 
Greeks alike in their own language, and with a knowl- 
edge of their thoughts and feelings. I venture to say 
that there was not a man in the whole world suited to 
fill the place then vacant, but Saul of Tarsus/ But, 
alas ! Instead of being found among the disciples of 
Jesus, he was among their persecutors. What is to be 
done? Be silent, O heaven! and give ear, O earth! 
A wonderful change has suddenly taken place. The 
news spreads like wildfire, " Saul now preaches the 
faith he once destroyed!" The exclamation of an- 
cient times, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" did 
not so astonish those that heard it. It reverberated 
like a clap of thunder in a clear sky ! From that time 
forward Paul devoted his talents, his life, his all, to 
the work which he alone was competent to perform. 

B. — Christianity is preeminently the religion of hu- 
manity — a religion for all nations. 
1. Judaism (though divine) was a narrow, national 
religion. As Gibbon remarks, "admirably fitted for 
defence — never designed for conquest." The author 
of it never intended that it should make proselytes. 
And in early history, its adherents made no effort at 
proselyting, and though in Christ's time "they com- 
passed sea and land to make one proselyte," the more 
ancient aspect was quite different, and is thus described 
by the learned Max Muller : — 

" The Jews, particularly in ancient times never thought of spread- 
ing their religion. Their religion was to them a treasure, a privi- 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 269 

lege, a blessing, something to distinguish them, as the chosen 
people of God, from all the rest of the world. A Jew must be of 
the seed of Abraham ; and when in later times, owing chiefly to 
political circumstances, the Jews had to admit strangers to some 
of the privileges of their theocracy, they looked upon them, not as 
souls that had been gained, saved, born again into a new brother- 
hood, but as strangers, as proselytes ; which means men who have 
come to them as aliens — not to be trusted, as their saying was, 
until the twenty-fourth generation." — Lect. on Missions. 

2. But the religion of Christ is remarkably cosmo- 
politan in character. Jesus was entirely free from all 
national prejudice — he loved all men without regard 
to race or condition — and in his last words to his 
apostles he said to them to go and " teach all nations " 
— " preach the Gospel to every creature " — and that 
they should bear witness of him in Judeaand Samaria, 
and to the uttermost parts of the earth. 

3. Soon, men of the various nations represented in 
the vast empire of Rome, who could not unite on Juda- 
ism, nor on any heathen system of religion, were wor- 
shipping in peace and harmony in the Christian 
congregations, and addressing each other as brethren; 
while the apostles were rejoicing that the middle wall 
of partition was broken down, and Jews and Gentiles 
were all one in Christ. Renan was so struck with this 
aspect of the religion of Jesus that he was constrained 
to say : — 

" He founded the pure worship of no age, of no clime, which 
shall be that of all lofty souls to the end of time." 

He also speaks of it as the * ' religion of human- 
ity.' ' — Life of Jesus, p. 215. 
C. — Notice how everything concurs as to the time of 

Messiah. 



270 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

1. The time of his advent was foretold. — Gen. 
xlix:10;* Dan. ii : 44 ; ix: 25; Haggai ii: 3-9; Ez. 
21: 25-27. 

2. Jesus entered on his mission with the declaration: 
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at 
hand." — Mark i:15. 

3. Afterward the Apostle Paul declared: "When 
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his 
Son." — Gal. iv : 4. 

" The moment had arrived which God had ordained from the be- 
ginning, and foretold by his prophets for Messiah's coming. It 
was not at a time arbitrarily chosen, that Christ appeared, nor did 
God send him forth but when mankind was ripe for his appearing. 
The exact period had arrived when all things were ready." — Light- 
foot on Gal. 

D. — It cannot be said that Jesus took advantage of 
the general expectation and imposed himself upon 
his couutrymen as their Messiah, when he was not? 
for he did not pander to their common views and 
expectations. 

1. The Jews in the time of Christ expected in the 
Messiah a military leader, who should free them 
from the foreign yoke and establish a temporal king- 
dom. 

2. But Christ did not encourage them to cherish 
any such ideas. He gave them to understand that 
his kingdom should be internal, spiritual. " The 
kingdom of God," said he^ " cometh not with observa- 
tion." 

* See foot note on page 30. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 271 

3. The original prophecies, however, accorded more 
nearly with what Christ was and did, than with what 
the Jews were expecting. The prophecies were by 
that generation of the Jews misinterpreted ; but Jesus 
disregarded their interpretation, and acted according 
to the original predictions. This is very strong evi- 
dence in his favor when we remember that all false 
Messiahs endeavored to conform to the popular expec- 
tation. 

E. — The place of his birth was foretold. 

1. The predictions pointed to Bethlehem. 

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among 
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me 
that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of 
old, from everlasting." — Micah v: 2. 

2. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, though his mother 
did not reside there. — Luke ii : 4. 

3. When Herod demanded of the chief priests and 
scribes where the Messiah should be born, they an- 
swered: "In Bethlehem of Judea," and quoted the 
above prophecy. — Matt, ii: 4, 5. 

F. — The Jewish Dispersion contributed greatly to- 
ward the general preparation for Christianity. 

1. Says Philip Schaff : — 

"It is well known that, after the Babylonish exile, the JeAvs 
were scattered over the whole world. Comparatively few of them 
availed themselves of the permission, granted by Cyrus, to return 
to Palestine. The majority remained in Babylonia, or wandered 
into other lands. In Alexandria, for example, at the time of Christ, 
almost half the inhabitants were Jews, who, by trading, had become 
rich and powerful." — Apostolic Ch. } p. 176. 

There were also, as the Professor goes on to say, 



272 HAND-BOOK OF CHKISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

many Jews in Asia Minor, Greece , and Rome. They 
still considered Jerusalem as their centre, and visited 
it from time to time at their great festivals. 

2. Many of these were present when Christ was 
crucified, and when the gospel was first preached on 
Pentecost, and could scatter the news far and wide. 
Dr. Smith in his Bible Dictionary divides the " Dis- 
persion " into three divisions, Babylonian, Syrian, 
and Egyptian, and says each division had representa- 
tives present on the day of Pentecost. 

3. When the apostles went forth to preach they 
found nearly everywhere Jews with an open Bible and 
a knowledge of the true God. Here was a good 
foundation to build on. Not only so, but this disper- 
sion prepared the soil among the Gentiles. As Dr. 
Augustus Neander says in substance, a reverence for 
the God of Israel and the sanctuary of the splendid 
Temple at Jerusalem, had long since found access 
among the Gentiles. Consequently a disposition to 
embrace Judaism had become so widely extended, par- 
ticularly in several of the large capital towns, that, as 
is well known, the Roman authors, in the time of the 
first Emperors, often make it a subject of complaint. 
Thus Seneca, in his tract upon superstition, said of the 
Jews, " The conquered have given laws to the con- 
querors. ,, — Neander, v. l,p. 92. 

G-. — Hellenistic Greek was an important factor in 
the establishment of the Christian system. 
1. A century before Christ, the pure Hebrew was 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 273 

superceded by a corrupt Aramaean dialect, known as 
Syro-Ckaldaic. But the Hellenistic Greek had for near 
three centuries been the common medium of communi- 
cation throughout the civilized world. 

2. This language was adopted by the apostles as the 
language in which to write the New Testament. Be- 
ing a Greek language enriched by Hebrew idioms, it 
was well adapted to the purpose of recording a uni- 
versal religion. A late writer compares Greece to an 
intelligent secretary, for helping apostles, and others, 
to publish their histories, epistles, and visions, in the 
best manner possible, for the best intellects of the age. 
Mountford in " Miracles , past and present." p. 456. 

3. It has been well remarked by Prof. Schaff: — 

"The language of Hellas is the most beautiful, rich, and har- 
monious ever spoken or written, and Christianity has conferred the 
highest honor on it, by making it the organ of her sacred truths. 
We may say, it was predestined to form the pictures of silver, in 
which the golden apple of the gospel should be preserved for all 
generations. To this end Providence so ordered, that, by the con- 
quests of Alexander the Great, and the planting of Greek colonies 
in the East, as also by reason of the copiousness, and intrinsic value 
of the Greek literature and its influence upon the Roman mind, 
this language had, before the birth of Christ, become the language 
of the whole civilized world. Through it the apostles could make 
themselves understood in any city in the Roman Empire." — App. 
Ch.,p. 145. 

II. — The Septuagent formed another grand link in 
the chain. 

1. The Old Testament was translated into Hellenis- 
tic Greek about two hundred and fifty years before 
Christ. 

2. When Christ came the Septuagent was read not 

18 



274 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

only by Jews, but by Gentiles as well, in many parts 
of the Roman Empire. 

3. When the apostles went forth to proclaim the 
glad tidings of salvation, they found a knowledge of 
the Qld Testament diffused more or less throughout 
the Roman Empire. The beautiful language of Hellas 
became general a short time before the Septuagent 
translation was made, and a short time after the New 
Testament was completed it became a dead language. 
I. — One sceptre ruled the world. 

1. Before the advent of Christ, Roman arms had 
triumphed over all the nations and established a uni- 
versal empire. 

2. So when Christ came one sceptre swayed the 
world, this colossal empire extending from the 
Euphrates to the Atlantic, and from the Lybian desert 
to the Rhine. 

3. This was highly favorable to the mission of the 
apostles. Says Gibbon: — 

" It has been observed, with truth as well as propriety, that the 
conquests of Rome prepared and facilitated those of Christianity." 
Decline and Fall, chap. 15. 

Says Schaff : — 

" This state of things must, of course, have been highly favora- 
ble to the messengers of the gospel; it gave them free access to all 
nations ; furnished them all advantages possible at that time for 
communication, gave them, everywhere, as citizens, the protection 
of Roman law, and, in general, prepared the soil of the world, at 
at least outwardly, to receive the doctrine of one all-embracing King- 
dom of God." — Apostolic Ch.,p. 157. 

J. — The universal peace was a favorable circum- 
stance. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 275 

1. A short time previous to the birth of Christ the 
world was disquieted by fierce and bloody wars. The 
civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, 49 B. C, 
was co-extensive with the empire. The bloody battle 
of Pharsalia, which decided the fate of Pompey, is de- 
scribed in pathetic strains by the poet Lucian. I 
make a brief extract : — 

" Stupid awhile, and at a gaze they stood, 
While creeping horror froze the lazy blood; 
Some small remains of piety withstand, 
And stop the javelin in the uplifted hand; 
Remorse for one short moment stepp'd between, 
And motionless as statues all were seen. 

" But oh ! what grief the ruin can deplore ! 
What verse can run the various slaughter o'er I 
For lesser woes our sorrows may we keep ; 
No tears suffice a dying world to weep, 
In different groups ten thousand deaths arise, 
And horrors manifold the soul surprise." 

The subsequent civil war between Brutus and Cassius 
was similar. 

2. But during the time Christ was on earth, and 
until his gospel had been preached everywhere by the 
apostles, peace reigned supreme throughout the vast 
empire — the whole world was at rest. This universal 
peace is thus described by an English poet : — 

" No war nor battle's sound 
Was heard the world around; 
The idle spear and shield were high up hung; 
The hooked chnriot stood 
Unstained with hostile blood; 
The trumpet spake not to the armed throng; 
And kings sat still with awful eye, 
As if they surely knew their sovereign Lord was by." 

— Milton's Ode to the Nativity 



276 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

3. This universal, peace just at that time, is all the 
more remarkable when we remember that war soon 
broke out again, and raged with exceeding fierceness. 
The reader, of course, is familiar with the history of that 
cruel and bloody war which resulted in the destruction of 
Jerusalem. I need not pause to remark that the uni- 
versal peace was essential to the reception of Christ 
and the success of his gospel kingdom. 
K. — The heralds of the cross were favored by the ex- 
cellent Roman roads which pervaded the empire. 

1. The historian Gibbon says: — 

"All the cities of the Koman Empire were connected with each 
other, and with the capital by public highways, which, issuing from 
the forum of Rome traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were 
terminated only by the frontiers of the empire." 

2. When the apostles went forth, in obedience to 
the command of their Master, to preach to all nations, 
they found very favorable facilities for safe and speedy 
travel. As we learn from Neander, the connection of 
the provinces with their metropolitan towns, and of the 
larger portion of the empire with the more consider- 
able cities, were all circumstances favorable to this 
end. Such cities as Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus and 
Corinth, were the centres of a wide, commercial, polit- 
ical and literary correspondence, and on this account 
became the principal seats for the propagation of the 
Gospel, and the ones in which the first preachers tarried 
longest. That commercial intercourse which from the 
earliest times had served, not merely for the barter of 
worldly goods, but also for the exchange of the nobler 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 277 

treasures of the mind, was now used as a channel for 

the diffusion of the greatest spiritual blessings. — Ne- 

ander, " Church Hist." vol. 1, chap. 1. 

3. The apostles made use of these advantages. 

Gibbon says : — 

"The public highways, which had been constructed for the use 
of the legions, opened an easy passage for the Christian mission- 
aries from Damascus to Corinth, and from Italy to the extremity 
of Spain or Britain; nor did those spiritual conquerors encounter 
any of the obstacles which usually retard or prevent the introduc- 
tion of a foreign religion into a distant country. There is the 
strongest reason to believe, that before the reigns of Dioclesian and 
Constantine, the faith of Christ had been preached in every province, 
and all the great cities of the empire." — Decline and Fall, chap. 15. 

L. — The way was prepared by a conference of three 

great powers. 

1. The three nations which contributed most toward 
the general preparation for Christianity, were the Jews, 
Greeks and Romans. 

2. The superscription over Christ on the cross was 
written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. 

3. The Hebrews furnished the religion; the Greeks, 
the language in which to express it; the Romans, the 
territory and circumstances favorable for its proclama- 
tion ; while the directing hand of God is seen in the 
work of all. 

M. — A history of the conduct of the Jews gives 
evidence for Jesus. 

1. Before the coming of Christ they held on to the 
religion of their fathers with wonderful tenacity. 

2. But many thousands of them were converted to 
Christ in the days of the apostles. Had it not been 



278 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

for those Jews who accepted Christianity at the first, 
the religion could not have been established. 

3. When we remember that it is almost impossible 
to convert a Jew now, we are forced to the conclu- 
sion that those multitudes of them who accepted Jesus 
in the First Century must have had conclusive and ir- 
resistible proof of his Messiahship. 
M". — All things concur in pointing to Christ as the 
Bummum Bonum of the world. 

1. Zoroaster, author of the Zend Avesta, taught the 
Persians a religion much purer than the idolatrous 
systems around them. From the time of that great 
reformer to Christ, they were expecting a Mithras 
(mediator), Sosiosch by name, who should descend 
from above, born in a supernatural manner, proclaimed 
by a sign from heaven. 

2. At the birth of Jesus a wonderful star appeared. 

Says Prof. Schaff : — 

" Respecting the Star of the Magi, and the remarkable astronom- 
ical calculations of Kepler and others, which have shown, that at 
the time of Christ's birth (four years before the Dionysian era), 
a conjunction of the planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars took place 
in the constellation Pisces, to which was added an extraordinary 
star, compare V/iesle^s Chronologische Synopse der vier Evang., 
1843, p. 57." — Apostolic Church, p. 184. 

3. When Jesus was an infant, Magi came from the 
East, the direction of Persia, (whose wise men, like 
those of some other nations, were called Magi), de- 
claring that they had seen his star in the East, and 
had come to acknowledge him as King : — 

"Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired 
of them diligently what time the star appeared. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 279 

And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search dili- 
gently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me 
word again, that I may come and worship him also. 

When they had heard the king, they departed ; and, lo, the star, 
which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood 
over where the young child was. 

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young 
child with Mary, his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him ; 
and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him 
gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return 
to Herod, they departed into their own country another way." — 
Matt, ii: 1-12. 

O. — Platonism pointed as a finger-board to the 
Gospel. 

1. Prof. W. S. Tyler, of Amherst College, very 

truly says : — 

11 Socrates and Plato anticipated the advent of a divine teacher, 
advising to forego the usual sacrifices till such a teacher should 
come, and ' representing, with prophetic sagacity and precision, 
that he must be poor and void of all qualifications but those of vir- 
tue alone, that a wicked world would not hear his instructions and 
reproofs, and, therefore, in three or four years after he began to 
preach, he would be persecuted, imprisoned, scourged, and at last, 
put to death.' See Harris^ Great Teacher, page 50, where it is sug- 
gested that Socrates and Plato enjoyed a degree of inspiration." — 
Theology of the Greek Poets, p. 44 * 

2. Prof. Schaff says: — 

"Of all the systems of Grecian philosophy, the one which un- 
doubtedly exerted the most powerful and beneficial influence on 
the religious life of the heathens, and was preeminently fitted to 
be a scientific school-master to bring men to Christ, was Platonism. 
* * * Platonism may be regarded as, in many respects, a direct 

* Bishop Newton says: "Wonderful as the gift ol prophecy was, it was 
not alwavs confined to the chosen seed, nor yet always imparted to the be»t 
of men." — Newton ox the Prophecies, p. 59. 

Such cases shew at least, as Prof. Tyler remarks, " that God has laid a 
foundation for inspiration in the constitution of the human mind upon which 
we should expect him to set up a corresponding superstructure. If he 
intended to impart inspiration, it would be wise to implant in man a prepara- 
tion and an expectation to receive it; and having implanted such an expecta- 
tion, it were Strang* indeed if he should never meet it." — Theo. Greek 
Poets, p. 45. 



280 HAND-BOOK OF CHEISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

guide to the Gospel. It carries us back to Socrates (399 B. C.)> the 
greatest and most remarkable moral personage of Heathendom." — 
App. Ch.yp.150. 

3. To many church fathers, like Justin Martyr and 
Origen, the Platonic philosophy became a stepping 
stone to lead them to the Gospel faith. Augustine 
confesses that it aided him to break the shackles of 
skepticism, and Eusebius says: "Plato alone, of all 
the Greeks, reached the vestibule of truth, and stood 
upon its threshold." The Platonic writings have also 
aided Neander and others, in later times, to come to a 
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. 
P. — The Sibylline Oracles.* — "Straws show which 

way the wind blows." 

1. The year that Pompey entered Jerusalem, not a 

very great while before the birth of Jesus, the Sibyls 

made a great noise that " nature was about to bring 

forth a king to the Romans." This so terrified the 

Roman Senate, as we learn from Suetonius, that they 

decreed that none born that year should be educated. 

He further says : — 

"Those whose wives were pregnant that year did each conceive 
great hopes of applying the prophecy to themselves." — Life of 
Augustus. 

According to Appian, Sallust, and Plutarch, this 

prediction so stirred Cornelius Lentulus that he thought 

* Note. — The Sibyls were certain women of different places and times' 
supposed by the heathen to be inspired by the gods. One of these is said to 
have offered Tarquin the Second, King of the Romans, nine volumes of her 
prophecies, at a very high price, which he refused to give. She then burnt 
three of them, and demanded the same price for the remaining six, and when 
Tarquin refused to purchase them she burnt tnree more, requiring still the 
same price for the three which were left. These were bought, and preserved 
with great care at Rome for many years, till the temple of Jupiter Capitolinius 
was burned. See American Cyclopaedia. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 281 

he should be the king of the Eomans. But Cicero 
laughed at the application, and affirmed that it could 
not be applied to any one born in Rome. 

2. Augustus Caesar, in whose reign Christ was born, 
had 2,000 Sibylline books burned. Thence forward 
these " prophetesses " were silent. — See American 

Cyclopedia, Art. Sibyl. 

3. The early Christian apologists, such as Tatian, 
Athenagoras, and Justin Martyr, used these Sibylline 
prophecies with great power in their controversies 
with the unbelieving heathens. Theopilus, Tertullian 
and Augustine all cite them, and consider them of value 
to the Christian cause. 

Their chief value consists in the three concurring 
facts, that they increased the general expectation; 
ceased when Christ was born ; and helped the early 
fathers to make converts to the Christian cause. 

Q. — Delphin and other Oracles. — Feathers, when 
thrown into the scales, exhibit some weight. 

1. The celebrated oracle of Apollo, and others of 

a similar character, contributed toward the general 

preparation. Says Prof. Tyler : — 

" Greece, and the ancient world, were the better for their exist- 
ence. What forbids us to suppose that they were, in some sense, 
directed and overruled by Providence, and instead of being under 
the control of evil spirits, which was the prevailing theory among 
the Christian Fathers, were intended to be the forerunners among 
the heathen, as the prophets were among the Jews, of the Christian 
revelation? " — Theo. Or. Poets, p. 211. 

2. When Christ was born they were hushed, and gave 
no more responses. So depose both Plutarch and 



282 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Eusebius. — De Sera Numinis Vindicta, p. 150. 

and New American Cyclopedia, Art. Oracle. 

3. Some of the heathens grumble that after Christ 

came the gods forsook them. Says the ancient Infidel 

Porphyry: — 

" And now people wonder that this distemper has oppressed the 
city so many years. Esculapius, and the other gods, no longer 
conversing with men. For since Jesus has been honored, none 
have received any public benefit from the gods." — Evang. Prep., 
book 5, chap. 1, p. 181. 

R. — It appears that there were men specially raised 
up by Providence among the Gentiles, as well as 
among the Jews, to prepare the world for Christ- 
tianity. 

1. Several centuries before Christ, when the city of 
Athens was sorely afflicted by plagues, they sent for 
Epimenides, a celebrated religious teacher in the Island 
of Crete, who, upon his arrival, caused the erection of 
an altar to THE UNKNOWN GOD; whereupon the 
plague immediately ceased. 

2. That served Paul an excellent purpose when he 
went to Athens to introduce the Gospel among them. — 
See Acts of Apostles, chap. xvii. 

3. After this, and after Paul had been to Crete and 
established churches there, he alluded to, and quoted 
Epimenides as a prophet. — Titus i: 5, 12. 

S. — Christ is the world's true sacrifice. 

1. From generation to generation the Jewish priests 
offered sacrifices upon the altar in Jerusalem, but they 
could not tell for what purpose. These sacrifices all 
pointed forward to Christ. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 283 

2. When Jesus expired upon the cross the vail of 
of the temple was rent in two from top to bottom. 
See Matt, xxvii: 51; Mark and Luke, and Hebrews 
x:20. 

3. Soon after the Keligion of Christ was established 
in the world, the temple and altar in Jerusalem were 
destroyed, and Jewish sacrifices entirely ceased. And 
from that day to this the Jews have not offered their 
legal sacrifices — the cock and hen slain on the day of 
atonement being but a faint imitation. 

T. — Ordinances point to Christ. 

1. Jewish ordinances, such as the Passover, and 
those in the temple service, point forward to him. 

2 - $3?* CHKIST. <*g^ 

3. Christian ordinances, such as baptism and the 
Lord's Supper, point back to him. 

U. — Christ's system of morality excels anything the 
world ever knew. 

1. Good moral maxims were scattered here and there 
over the world, taught by such men as Epimenides, 
Zoroaster, Confucius, and Socrates. 

2. Jesus, without ever seeing or hearing the teach- 
ings of those sages, as Renan concedes, gathered up 
all the scattered fragments of morality, eliminated all 
error, and blended them into one beautiful and har- 
monious whole, improved by the addition of every 
precept that could be conceived of as of value to the 
human family. 



284 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

3. Gibbon assigns " the pure and austere morals of 
the Christians " as one of the causes of the unparalleled 
success of their system. — Decline and Fall, eh. 15. 

V. — The Gospel facts are embodied in a form, and, 
represented in acts performed by believers. — 
Romans, ch. 6. 

1. Christ died on the cross — believers die to sin. 

2. Christ was buried in the tomb — believers are 
buried in baptism. 

3. Christ rose from the dead — believers rise to walk 
in newness of life. t 

W. — Messiah was to come of the tribe of Judah. 

1. The identity of that tribe was preserved till after 
Christ. 

2. Jesus was born of that tribe. 

3. Soon after the advent of Christ, the tribe of 
Judah was broken up and scattered, and all distinction 
of tribes is now lost. 

X. — There were only three tribes remaining in Pales- 
tine with identity preserved when Christ came — - 
Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. 

1. Levi furnished John the Baptist. 

2. Judah furnished Jesus Christ. 

3. Benjamin furnished the Apostle Paul. 

Y. — Jesus has afforded the world manifold comforts 

and joys. 

1. It is very evident from the facts adduced that the 
hearts of millions before his coming were cheered in 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 285 

anticipation of that glorious event. The eloquent 

George Gilfillan exclaims : — 

" What heart, in what age or country, has not at some time or 
other throbbed in the expectation of a Messiah, a " Coming One," 
destined to right the wrongs, staunch the wounds, explain the mys- 
tery, and satisfy the ideal of this wondrous, weary, hapless, and un- 
intelligible world — who shall reconcile it to itself , by giving it a 
purer model of life, and a nobler principle of action; who shall 
form a living link, welding it to the high and distant heaven; who 
shall restore the skies, the roses and the hearts of Eden, and instruct 
us, by his plan of reconciliation, that the fall itself was a stage in 
the triumph of man? Humanity has not only desired, but has cried 
aloud for his coming. The finest minds of the Pagan world have 
expressed a hope, as well as a love of his appearing. It might, in- 
deed, be proved that this ' Desire of all Nations ' lies at the f ounda- 
dation of all human hope, and is the preserving salt of the 
world. * * * But in the minds of the Jews, this feeling dwelt 
with peculiar intensity and concentration. * * * This desire, in 
what singular circumstances was it fulfilled! The earth was at rest 
and still. The expectation of many ages had come to its height. 
In the hush of that universal silence we may imagine the hearts of 
all nations panting audibly, with strong and intolerable longing. 
And when the expectation was thus at the fullest, its object arrived. 
And where did the Desire of all Nations appear? Did he lift up his 
head in the palaces of Rome, or the porticoes of Athens? No; but 
he came where the desire was beating most strongly — to the core 
of the great heart which was panting for him — to the village of 
Bethlehem, in the midst of Judea, and the neighborhood of Jerusa- 
lem."— " Bards of the Bible," pages 30 and 31. 

2. At his birth many like the shepherds went to see 
him and rejoiced, many in Israel beheld him with joy 
and were ready to exclaim with Simeon: " Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to 
thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation!" 
While many in foreign lands, like the Magi, hailed his 
advent with delight. 

3. And since that time countless myriads have re- 
joiced in him " with joy unspeakable and full of glory. " 
He has robbed the grave of its terror and death of its 



286 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

sting ! Many have rejoiced even in the hour of their 
dissolution, on account of their faith in him, and the 
hope which his Gospel inspires. If his religion be a 
delusion, it is a most glorious and soul-cheering delu- 
sion ! If the Gospel is a lie, it has afforded more joy 
than any truth that was ever told ! And will continue 
to do so till the end of time. For even Eenan is con- 
strained to exclaim : — 

" Whatever may be the surprises of the future, Jesus will never 
be surpassed. His worship will grow young without ceasing; his 
legend will call forth tears without end ; his sufferings will melt 
the noblest hearts ; all ages will proclaim that among the sons of 
men there is none born greater than Jesus." — Life of Jesus, p. 376. 

Z. — The rise of Christianity is the great fact of his- 
tory. It is with truth that Prof. Tyler observes : — 

"It is the grand, significant, culminating, dominant fact hitherto 
of the world's history, and to assume that it does not hold that 
place in the world by right were as unhistorical and unphilosophi- 
cal as to ignore its existence." 

1. Before the advent of Christ, time was reckoned 
from various events. 

2. But now, by the common Concurrence of all civ- 
ilized nations, Christ is considered the central figure 
and all events before and since his advent are reckoned 
from him. Historians say that an event took place so 
many years B. C. (before Christ), or A. D. (after 
Christ.) 

3. Even Infidels honor Jesus in that way. I have 
before me an Infidel book, and one by a Jewish Rabbi. 
They both use this manner of dating, and one of them 
uses both terms at once in half a line : " from 500 B. 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 287 

C. to 500 A. D." An Infidel cannot write a letter 
without having A. D. (in the year of the Lord) either 
expressed or understood, thus bearing testimony to the 
claims of Christ. Whatever an Infidel book or paper 
may say against Christ, it speaks in his favor in its 
dates. This shows what a wonderful impress our Re- 
deemer has left upon the human family. When Jesus 
paid tribute unto Caesar, who would have thought that 
the time would come when his enemies would thus pay 
tribute to him ? 

Now, all of the above considerations and concurring 
circumstances taken together, and in connection with 
the facts presented in previous chapters, form a very 
strong and powerful chain of evidence in favor of the 
proposition that Christianity is of Divine Origin. Ac- 
cording to the testimony of minds trained in the legal 
profession, the evidence arising from coincidences, 
possesses great weight. Mr. Starkie, a very learned 
law-writer, observes : — 

" The credibility of testimony frequently depends upon the exer- 
cise of reason on the effect of coincidences in testimony, which, if 
collusion be excluded, can not be accounted for but upon the sup- 
position that the testimony of concurring witnesses is true ; so that 
their individual character for veracity is frequently but of secondary 
importance, (supra, 466). Its credibility also greatly depends upon 
the confirmation by collateral circumstances, and on analogies 
supplied by the aid of reason." — Practical Treatise on the Law of 
Evidence, vol. l,p. 471. 

Of course " collusion is excluded " in the case under 
consideration, for the witnesses lived in different 
countries and in different periods of the world's his- 



288 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

tory ; and we may well ask, in the language of the 
poet: — 

" Whence but from heaven, could men unskilled in arts, 
In several ages born, in several parts, 
Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why, 
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?" — Dryden. 

The " analogies," " coincidences/ ' and " collateral 
circumstances " before us, point unmistakably to the 
religion of Christ as a divine institution. There is no 
logic superior to the logic of events. As mind directs 
in the threading of a needle, so mind directed in mak- 
ing these facts the counterpart of each other; as one 
mind controls many minds in the movements of a vast 
army, so one mind controlled the many minds which 
co-operated to produce the stupendous effects before 
us; as in the construction of a flouring-mill, one mind 
disposes all the machinery with reference to a centre 
and for a purpose, so in the case before us, one mind 
disposed the machinery of the world with reference to 
Christ, and for the purpose of man's redemption ; as 
in the production of man, as the crowning act of 
creation, the inferior animals foreshadowing him before 
and serving him after his coming, the mind, the one 
mind directing, controlling, and disposing everything 
with reference to a centre, and for a purpose, was the 
mind of the Infinite and Eternal, so in the produc- 
tion of the Christian system, the one mind directing, 
controlling and disposing all things with reference to 
Christ and for the purpose of Salvation was none 
other than the mind of God! Wherefore Jesus is the 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 289 

darling of his bosom, and Christianity the apple of his 
eye; yea, and you and I are the subjects of his love, 
the objects of his tenderest consideration. Infidels 
cannot overthrow the Church of Christ; for it is 
founded upon a rock, even the Rock of Ages ! They 
might as well undertake to * ' drain the ocean with a 
cup," extinguish the shining sun, or annihilate the 
universe, as to undertake to check the movement which 
Jesus inaugurated, or overthrow the institution which 
he established, for it has God for its author, truth for 
its foundation, and love for its life-giving principle. 
Esto perpetua. 




10 



290 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 



CONCLUSION. 



GOD. 



HAVE not in the preceding pages, discussed the ex- 
istence of Deity ; but the facts and arguments, pre- 
sented in each chapter, prove that there is a God. 
°^F The unity and harmony of Nature and the Bible, as 
well as the united simplicity and profundity of both, 
adapting them to the wants and capacities of man, as por- 
trayed in the first chapter, show evident marks of design, 
and consequently that there was a designer, an absolute 
unlimited mind, just such a being as it takes to consti- 
tute God. The wonderful evidence of fulfilled proph- 
ecy, adduced in the Second and Third chapters, prove 
that there is a God, who foreknew the great facts 
of history before they occurred, for no man knows 
the things of the future sufficiently well to predict 
with precision the rise and fall of empires, the destruc- 
tion or the perpetuity of nations, the overthrow of 
cities and devastation of countries, and the rise and 
progress of institutions, with their distinguishing char- 
acteristics and tendencies. This required a mind 
which reads the future as it reads the past, and of 
which an apostle could truly say: " Known unto God 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 291 

are all his works from the beginning of the world." 
The evidence furnished by the facts and proofs of the 
Second Part are also strong and irresistible. The 
credibility of the Gospels and Acts being established, 
transactions are therein recorded which none but God 
could have performed. The resurrection of Christ, 
proved in the Second Chapter, establishes the existence 
of God, for none but God could have raised him. The 
concurring circumstances and events culminating in 
Christ, as exhibited in the last chapter of the work, 
show conclusively that there is an unseen hand in 
history, and are explicable only upon the hypothesis 
that there is an Infinite and Almighty God, who exer- 
cises a general superintendence over the affairs of the 
world, and a providential care over his children. As 
long as the facts remain uncontradicted and the argu- 
ments unshaken, the existence of God must be ac- 
cepted as an undeniable truth. Instead, therefore, of 
reasoning and speculating upon the existence of God, 
before considering the claims of his Book and his 
Religion, I begin with unmistakable facts, and reason 
not only "through nature up to nature's God," but 
through revelation up to the God of revelation, as 
well. Thus this line of argument links the chain of 
evidence to the visible and tangible; thence, adding 
link to link, as it rises higher and higher in the domain 
of logic and reason, is finally made fast in the throne 
of God. 



292 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



MIEACLES. 

There are very few, however, who really disbelieve 
the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, though many 
profess to. Even Ingersoll, though avowing Atheistic 
sentiments, is constrained to admit that "in the night 
of death hope sees a star, and listening love hears the 
rustle of a wing ! ' ' That language he used at the 
grave of his brother, and in his lecture on the " Mis- 
takes of Moses," he says : " There may be in immen- 
sity some being beneath whose wing the universe exists, 
whose every thought is a glittering star, but I know 
nothing about him — not the slightest." The denial 
of miracles is the common platform on which all un- 
believers stand. And the question as to whether 
miracles have ever been performed is now the grand 
issue between Christianity on the one hand and all its 
enemies on the other. I have not in the foregoing 
pages, argued this question direct ; but just to the ex- 
tent to which I have succeeded in proving the claims of 
the Bible and its religion, to that extent have I proved 
the reality of miracles. The three wonderful features 
of Nature and the Bible elaborated in the First Chap- 
ter are nothing short of the miraculous. The unmis- 
takable evidences of fulfilled prophecy cited in the 
Second and Third Chapters, furnish proof of the 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 293 

miraculous; for, as Hume remarks, all true prophe- 
cies are real miracles. Evidence accumulates as we 
pass to the facts in the Second Part. In the First 
Chapter, the credibility of the historic books of the 
New Testament being established, it follows that mira- 
cles have been performed; for many are recorded there, 
and they are so intimately connected and interlinked 
with the other history as to be a necessary part of the 
narrative. The resurrection of Christ, proved in the 
Second Chapter, was a most astounding miracle; 
while the wonderful concurrence of events described 
in the last chapter approximates to such, to say the 
least. Again, if the existence of God is proved by the 
facts, as maintained above, it is not only reasonable to 
believe in miracles, but very unreasonable not to do so. 
In fact, God, Revelation and Miracles, are an insepar- 
able trinity, so to speak. The proof of one implies the 
existence of the others. Their claims must stand or 
fall together. There is no logical stopping place be- 
tween Biblical-belief and absolute Atheism. Man must 
either accept the latter, live in uncertainty, and die in 
doubt, making a fearful leap in the dark ; or, embrace 
the former, live in confidence and die in faith, wrap- 
ping the drapery of his couch around him in peace, be- 
lieving that he but falls asleep in Jesus, to rise to a 
glorious and blissful immortality beyond this vale of 
sorrow and of tears. If it be a delusion, it is a glorious 
delusion. " Let me die the death of the righteous, and 
let my last end be like his." 



294 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 



OBJECTIONS. 

I have not had space to consider objections, nor 
did I deem it necessary, because a fact once estab- 
lished, or a proposition once proved, is forever true, 
in spite of everything that may be urged against it. 
The lines of argument pursued establish the truth 
of the Bible, and the divine origin of its religion. 
Unless it can be shown that the facts adduced are un- 
true, or my reasonings thereon erroneous, the claims 
of Christ and his Church must stand unshaken, and 
petty objections and cavils will but show the weakness 
of Infidelity. As Dr. Greenleaf remarks : " Christian- 
ity does not profess to convince the perverse and head- 
strong, to bring irresistible evidence to the daring and 
profane, to vanquish the proud scorner, and afford 
evidence from which the careless and perverse cannot 
possibly escape. This might go to destroy man's re- 
sponsibility." God has furnished sufficient evidence. 
But it is in man's power to accept or reject it. That 
the evidence is abundantly sufficient for honest and in- 
telligent minds, is evinced by the fact that it has 
proved satisfactory to countless millions in various 
stations of life, while some of the noblest and wisest 
specimens of our race have investigated it with all the 
learning, scientific, historic, and literary that could be 



DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 295 

brought lo bear on the subject, with the most satisfac- 
tory results, closing their investigations with their 
hearts full of faith, and the consequent hope which 
faith inspires. The man, however, who is not willing 
to believe, may close his eyes to the evidence, though 
not able to refute it. Such a one may find timber 
with which to prop his doubt and skepticism. And 
while it is the part of candor to admit that there are 
some real difficulties — as no science is without its 
difficulties — there are none sufficient to overbalance the 
strong array of affirmative proof which has from time 
to time been adduced. And it is easier to answer the 
objections urged against Christianity, than to meet 
those that may be urged against Infidelity. I have 
frequently presented to Infidels the interrogations 
found in the preface of this work, and in every instance 
they were nonplussed. I once asked one what evi- 
dence would be required to convince him? He an- 
swered, "A great deal." I then asked what evidence 
had been adduced? He replied, "Very little." But 
when asked to specify, he was utterly at a loss to know 
how to respond. I asked another the same questions, 
and he at once took refuge in cavils and petty objec- 
tions. When further pressed, he said he was unwill- 
ing to believe on any evidence, however strong, being 
unable to believe that it was at all possible for Jesus to 
be born without a father. He was silenced, however, 
when I asked him, "How then can you believe that 
the first man came into existence without either father 



296 HAND-BOOK OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

or mother? " As long as Infidels deal in quibbles and 
scoffs, neglecting to answer affirmative proofs, our 
holy religion shall stand unshaken, as it has stood in 
the past, despite all efforts to overthrow it. And the 
remedial system will continue its glorious work of ele- 
vation and salvation till the archangel shall descend 
from heaven, and standing with one foot upon the 
land, and the other upon the sea, shall swear by him 
that sitteth upon the throne, even by him that liveth 
forever and ever, that there shall be no longer delay; 
when the Lord Jesus shall roll the heavens together as a 
scroll, and as a vesture shall fold them up, that they 
may be changed ; and the Almighty Father shall reach 
forth his hand, and in the presence of the innumerable 
myriads who people space, and upon the folded can- 
vass of this earthly tent, in glowing letters of living 
light, shall write, 



\t io MiAM&hvb. 



APPENDIX. 



(297) 



" Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts : and be ready always to 
give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope 
that is in you." — Peter. 

"If the Christian citadel is not utterly impregnable, if it is so 
constructed as to warrant the least trepidation on the appearance of 
an enemy, it ought to be abandoned. In other words, our necessi- 
ties, the soul's value and peril justify the demand of reason that 
any religion which invites our confidence shall offer perfect, in- 
vincible security. And the glory of the Gospel is its absolute cer- 
tainty."— St. Louis Presbyterian. 



APPENDIX. 



A. 

The Controverted Passage of Josethus. 

The passage alluded to on the 179th page of this 

work reads as follows : — 

"Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be law- 
ful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, — a 
teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew 
over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He 
was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the princi- 
pal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that 
loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them 
alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these 
and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him : and the 
tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this 
day." —Ant. B. 18, Ch. 3, § 3. 

Much has been said for and against this controverted 
passage. And the disputants seem to discuss the sub- 
ject with great fairness and candor; some Christians, 
like Lardner, admitting it to be spurious, and some 
Infidels, like Renan, admitting it to be genuine. Er- 
nest Renan deposeth as follows : — 

"I think the passage on Jesus authentic. It is perfectly in the 
style of Josephus, and if this historian had made mention of Jesus, 
it would have been in that way. We perceive only, that some Chris- 
tian hand has retouched the fragment, has added a few words, with- 
out which, it would have been almost blasphemous; and has, 
perhaps, curtailed or modified some expressions." — Life of Jesus, 
p. 13. 

299 



300 A?PENDIX. 

Alexander Campbell, following Lardner, refuses to 
accept it. His principle reasons for rejecting it, are, 
first, that it was wanting in the copy read by Photius 
in the Ninth Century ; and, second, that it interrupts 
the course of the narrative, and seems forced and un- 
natural for an unbelieving Jew. The first of those rea- 
sons has no weight whatever upon my mind; for, if it 
was not in his copy, it was in copies centuries before 
his birth, and it is now in copies centuries after his 
death. Scholars say it is in every copy of Josephus 
now extant. 

The other objection, however, does strike my 
mind very forcibly. It does interrupt the course of 
the narration , and appears unnatural . That is certainly 
the grand objection to the genuineness of the passage. 
It is introduced abruptly, and as abruptly dismissed, 
without any apparent design. 

After mature investigation, I have arrived at the 
conclusion that the key to the difficult problem consists 
in the fact that Josephus wrote in Hebrew, and after- 
ward translated his productions into Greek; and, that 
the solution itself is that the passage was wanting in 
the Hebrew, but afterward supplied by the historian 
when he translated the book into Greek. In his pre- 
face to the " Jewish Wars," he says he first wrote that 
work in the language of his own country, for the sake 
of such as lived in Parthia, Babylonia, Arabia, and 
other parts ; and afterward published it in Greek for 
the benefit of others. And although he does not say 



APPENDIX. 301 

expressly that he pursued the same course with refer- 
ence to the " Antiquities," he nevertheless mentions 
the difficulty of translating the Jews' language into a 
foreign tongue, which implies that he first composed 
and then translated the work he was then prefacing. 
In writing in the Hebrew, which would be read by 
Jews almost exclusively, he did not deem it necessary 
to incur their prejudices by mentioning one with whose 
remarkable career they were already more familiar 
than they desired to be; so he allowed prudence to 
dictate silence. But when he translated his book into 
Greek, for the benefit of foreigners, he deemed it in- 
excusable to preserve entire silence in regard to the 
most wonderful character which his nation had ever 
produced. His own countrymen would understand 
and appreciate his remarkable silence. Not so the 
Gentiles, however, they would be ready to inquire, 
44 What think you of Jesus, who is called Christ? " 
This solves the entire problem. It accounts for the 
absence of the passage from Photius' copy, and ex- 
plains why it breaks the course of the narration in order 
to find a place. Having already written his book, the 
historian had to make a place for it among facts al- 
ready recorded. 

I agree, however, with Kenan, that some Christian 
hand has "retouched it," adding, subtracting and 
modifying. They may have added innocently at first, 
in the form of notes, remarks which were afterward 
embodied in the text. I look upon the passage as of 



302 APPENDIX. 

little value; for, however much of it may be genuine, 
it proves nothing but what is abundantly proved with- 
out it. But if it is wholly spurious, Josephus is in- 
excusable as a historian not to mention the Christian 
movement which had assumed such prodigious propor- 
tions when he wrote. 



B. 

Martyrdom of Apostles. 

Martyrdom to an opinion, merely proves sincerity 
in that opinion : but martyrdom to a fact, about which 
there can be no mistake, proves the fact to be true. 
The martyrs to the resurrection of Jesus died in attes- 
tation of a fact, not an opinion. 

Infidels of late years feel the force of this argument 
so sensibly, that they are endeavoring to raise doubt 
as to whether the apostles suffered martyrdom. I 
deem it well, therefore, to present such evidence and 
information as I have at hand on that subject. I 
therefore remark: — 

1. Reasoning a priori, we would conclude that the 
apostles, or a number of them, suffered martyrdom; 
for that was the fate of John the Baptist and Jesus 
near the beginning of their career, and of multitudes 
of Christians near the close of it. This is an unde- 



APPENDIX. 303 

niable truth, attested by such men as Josephus 
and Tacitus, and accredited by such men as Rabbi 
Wise and the historian, Gibbon. It would, therefore, 
be a miracle of miracles, if the apostles all escaped 
with their lives, and were left standing, like a dozen 
indestructible pillars, while so many of their co- 
laborers were slain, by the bitter hand of persecution. 
Remember Tacitus testifies that many Christians 
were martyred in Rome, as early as A. D. 64 ; and 
Gibbon says the most skeptical criticism is bound to 
respect the truth of this declaration. Rabbi Wise al- 
ludes to the martyrdom of John the Baptist, and then 
adds: — 

"So the doom of Jesus was sealed. After a few days, giving 
him scarcely time enough to expound his scheme of salvation — the 
Komans captured and crucified him, as thousands of Jews were 
crucified in those days, some by the same Pilate." — Three Lec- 
tures, p. 6. 

Then, on the 31st page, the Rabbi says of Paul: — 

" Fortunately, however, he was retained in Csesarea, when Nero 
in Rome put to death the Christians with exquisite cruelty. * * * 
He came to Rome in the year 65, when the cruelty of Nero's pro- 
ceedings against the Christians filled every heart with compassion, 
and humanitv relented in favor of the Christians." 

Hear him once more: — 

"Pliny informs us that in the days of the Emperor Trajan, that 
is in the beginning of the Second Century, an edict existed to kill 
every man, woman, or child who professed Christianity ; and this 
edict was in force also in the days of Marcus Aurelius, at the end of 
that century." — ib. page 10. 

In view of all these facts, who can believe that the 
apostles all escaped unhurt? " Credat Jud^us 

APELLA ; NON EGO ! ' ' 



304 , APPENDIX. 

2. Stephen died in attestation of the Kesurrection, 
soon after the apostles entered upon their labors. 
When on trial before the Sanhedrim, his face became 
radiant, and he declared that he saw heaven opened, 
and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, where- 
upon they rushed upon him, with mob violence, and 
stoned him to death. But he maintained his integrity 
to the last, calling on the name of Jesus with his last 
expiring breath. Acts, vii : 60. Stephen's fate makes 
the probability that many of the apostles suffered mar- 
tyrdom, almost a certainty. But approximate proof 
shall now give place to direct evidence. 

3 . We have positive testimony that the Apostle James 
(now known as James the Great or the Elder) died a 
martyr at the hand of Herod Agrippa I. Acts, xii : 2. 

4. We have historic evidence, outside of the Bible, 
that the other Apostle James ( now called the Less or 
Younger) was put to death, and other disciples with 
him. Josephus says the haughty high priest Ananias 
called a council of judges, "and bringing before them 
James, the brother of Jesus who is called Christ, and 
some others, he accused them as transgressors of the 
laws, and had them stoned." — Ant. B. 20, chap. 9, 
sec. 1. Dr. Isaac M. Wise, the Jewish Kabbi, already 
quoted, endorses this as authentic history. He says, 
" the fanatic high priest, Ananias, convened a court of 
his willing tools, tried James, the brother of Jesus, 
and, finding him guilty of God knows what, had him. 
and some of his associates executed — a bloody deed 



APPENDIX. 305 

which cost him his office, on account of the loud and 
emphatic protestations of the Jews before Agrippa II. 
and the Roman Governor. " — Three Lectures, page 
30. 

5. We have an abundance of evidence that Peter suf- 
fered martyrdom. We learn from the Infidel writer 
Julian, a Roman Emperor, that Peter and Paul were 
both dead, and their tombs respected and frequented, 
before John wrote the Gospel which bears his name. — 
Cyril's Contra. Julian, B. 10, p. 327. And that he 
died the death of a martyr, we learn from a statement 
made by John. He says that Jesus made the follow- 
ing declaration to Peter : — 

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou 
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldst; but when 
thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another 
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." 

And then adds : — 

"This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify 
God." — John, xxi: 18, 19. 

Now, it is evident from this, that John knew that 
Peter had died a violent death at the hands of the per- 
secutors; and that Peter was sentenced to death, and 
expected soon to be executed, when he wrote his 
Second Epistle, and that he remembered, in that try- 
ing hour, the prediction of the Savior, is evident from 
the following passage : — 

11 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir 
you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I 
must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath 
shewed me. Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after 
mv decease to have these things always in remembrance." — II. 
Peter, i: 13-15. 20 



306 APPENDIX. 

Peter's martyrdom is attested by Clement, of Eome, 
who wrote before the end of the First Century ( Clem- 
ent's 1st Ep. to Corinthians, chap. 5) ; and it is evi- 
dent from a statement made in Muratori's Canon, com- 
piled about A. D. 170, that Luke wrote some document 
in addition to his Gospel and Acts, in which he records 
the same. This ancient document, in an account of 
Acts of the Apostles, contains these words : — 

" Luke relates to Theophilus, events of which he was an eye-wit- 
ness, as also, in a separate place he evidently declares the mar- 
tyrdom of Peter, but omits the journey of Paul from Rome to 
Spain." — Routh's Reliquiae Sacrjs, p. 1-12. — Cox. & Howson's 
Life and Ep. of Paul, p. 801. 

Dr. Bloomfield says : — 

" The universal testimony of antiquity concurs in showing that 
Peter suffered martyrdom by crucifixion." — Greek Testament, p. 
444. 

Philip Schaff says the same thing, in almost the same 

words : — 

" It is the voice of all antiquity, that Peter was crucified in the 
persecution under Nero." — Apostolic Church, p. 372, and pages 
363-365. 

And Origen says : — 

"He was crucified with his head downwards." — American 
Cyclopedia, page 353. 

6. There is abundant evidence that Paul suffered 

martyrdom. Clement of Eome, in his Epistle to the 

Corinthians, chap. 5, says: — 

" He came to the limits of the West, and died a martyr under the 
rulers." 

Bingham, who is referred to by the American Cyclo- 
paedia as good authority, says it is unquestionable that 



ATPENDIX. 307 

Peter and Paul both suffered martyrdom, in the perse- 
cution under Nero; that "Eusebius shows this out of 
Caius Romanus, Tertullian, Origen, and Dionysiusof 
Corinth, who say that one was crucified and the other 
beheaded ; that their festivals were anciently observed, 
as other festivals of the martyrs; " and adds: — 

" The like may be concluded of all the other apostles, who suf- 
fered martyrdom in the several countries where they preached the 
Gospel." — Bingham's Antiquities, p. 1161. 

For a full account of his execution, see " History of 
the Apostolic Church, " by Philip Schaff, and "Life 
and Epistles of Paul," by Conybeare & Howson. 

7. The other apostles, at an early date, scattered to 
different parts of the world. As Prof. Schaff truly 
says : — 

11 Eternity will assuredly disclose many hidden flowers and fruits 
of Christian life and labor, which are either not at all, or at least 
very imperfectly, recorded in books of history. Down to the Apos- 
tolic Council, A. D. 50, the twelve disciples seem still to have looked 
on Jerusalem as the center of their activity, and with the exception 
of Paul, not to have ^one far beyond Palestine. Thenceforth we 
find none but James in the Jewish capital (Acts, xxi: 18), the rest 
having scattered to different lands." — Apostolic Church, p. 386. 

It is therefore impossible, in the very nature of the 
case, to have the same unmistakable testimony in re- 
gard to their fate, that we possess with reference to 
the fate of the two James', and Paul and Peter. But 
we have sufficient evidence that several of the others 
suffered martyrdom l.cisidos those four. Mr. Gibbon 
admits that " after the death of Christ, his innocent 
disciples were punished with death" (Decline and 
Fall, chap. 15), and Mr. Kenan says : — 



308 APPENDIX. 

"The Sadduccee family of Hananlong retained the pontificate, 
and, more powerful than ever, unceasingly waged the cruel war 
against the disciples and the family of Jesus, which it had com- 
menced against its founder. Christianity, which owed to him the 
crowning act of its foundation, owed to him also its first mar- 
tyrs." — Life of Jesus, p. 358. 

The American Cyclopaedia says : — 

"Legends about all of them were early current, recounting their 
voyages, sufferings, and martyrdoms." 

And Dr. Kitto says : — 

" The current traditions, generally received at the time, doubt- 
less had a basis of historic facts, and may, therefore, be accepted in 
the main as credible." — History oe the Bible, p. 622. 

The earliest ecclesiastical historians all unite in at- 
testing the martyrdom of Matthias, and some of them 
say he was stoned by the unbelieving Jews. Apropos, 
the Babylon Talmud contains the following : — 

"When Matthai was brought forth, he said to his judges, * Shall 
Matthai be slain! But it is written, When shall I come (Matai) and 
appear before God?' (Ps. xlii:2). But they answered: 'Yes, 
Matthai shall be slain. For it is written, When (Matai) shall he 
die, and his name perish? ' " — (Ps. xli: 5.) 

The Talmud, as quoted by Lightfoot, also alludes 
to the execution of four other disciples in the same 
manner. 

It is related by Gregory, Ambrose, Jerome, Chrys- 
ostom, Athanasius and Eusebius, that Thomas went 
and preached the gospel in India, and was put to 
death by the Brahmans. When Cosmos explored the 
East, in A. D. 522, he found a multitude of Chris- 
tians ; and when the Portugese began their colonization 
in India, they found nearly two hundred thousand, 






APPENDIX. 309 

calling themselves " Thomas-Christians," and yearly 
commemorating his martyrdom by visiting his tomb. — 
See Smith's Elements of Divinity, p. 373. 

It can hardly be doubted that Andrew suffered mar- 
tyrdom at Patrse (Patras), in Achaia, by order of the 
Proconsul iEgeas, as reported ; for not only does the 
minute particularity as to places, persons, and transac- 
tions indicate the truth, but the crux decusata X, on 
which he was crucified has been called "Andrew's 
cross " ever since. 

8. We have circumstantial evidence sufficient to es- 
tablish the fact that a number of the apostles suffered 
martyrdom. 

In the first place, it is recorded by all four of the 
evangelists that Jesus told his apostles that some of 
them would be put to death. — Mat. xxiv: 9 ; Mark 
xiii : 9, 12; Luke xxi: 16; John xvi:2-4. Now, it 
will neither be maintained that Jesus needlessly aroused 
their fears, when there was no occasion for it, nor that 
his friends put this into his mouth when he had never 
said it and it had never happened; it follows, there- 
fore, that one of two things is certainly true ; either 
Jesus said it because he knew it would take place, or 
they put it into his mouth because it had taken place. 
Let the Infidel take either horn of the dilemma. If 
the first is true, Jesus knew the future, knew they 
would be killed, and it came to pass as he predicted. 
If the second is true, the fact of their martyrdom is 
directly established. 



310 APPENDIX. 

In the second place, the early Christians commem- 
orated the death of their martyrs annually by visiting 
their tombs. Such festivals were kept in honor of the 
apostles. This is attested by early Christian writers 
and confirmed by the Emperor Julian. They gener- 
ally believed that all the apostles sealed their testi- 
mony with their blood, except John. — See BinghaM's 
Antiquities. 

In the third place, early apologists, in their discus- 
sions with Infidels, based an argument upon the mar- 
tyrdom of the apostles. The well-known Infidel writer 
Porphyry, who flourished A. D. 170, wrote as 
follows : — 

" Ignorant and indigent men, because they had nothing, per- 
formed some signs by magical art; which is no great matter; for 
the magicians in Egypt, and many others have wrought signs." 

"Let it be granted," replies Jerome, "bat then, why did they 
die? Why were they crucified? Others have wrought signs by 
magical arts, but they did not die for a dead man ; they were not 
crucified for a man that had been crucified. They knew him 
to be dead; and did they die without any reason? Our victory 
is completed in the blood of the apostles ; our faith is ratified in 
their blood! Let us therefore praise God, to whom be glory for 
ever and ever." — Brevarium on Psalter, vol. 2, pp. 334, 335. 

Prof. W.J. Bolton quotes several similar arguments 

in the 7th chapter of his admirable work, and on page 

281, he says: — 

"The circumstances of the case especially dwelt upon by the 
Apologists were, the incredibly short time the gospel took to accom- 
plish its end; the extent of its conquest, being nothing less than 
the known world; against an opposition the most unanimous, vio- 
lent and persevering that can well be imagined." 

9. But it would not invalidate my argument if I were 

unable to show that any of them actually lost their lives. 



APPENDIX. * 311 

For we have ample evidence that they were all willing 
to suffer death, rather than give up their testimony to 
the resurrection ; and in this consists the strength of 
the argument. Their Master had told them that they 
should be persecuted and killed. — Mat. xxiv: 9; 
xxiii: 34. But soon after he was risen, they boldly 
proclaimed the fact in the capital of the Jewish nation. 
Two of their number were arrested and threatened. — 
Acts, iv. But they didn't swerve. Then the entire 
twelve were arrested and imprisoned, but they pro- 
claimed the resurrection, right in the face of their 
judges, when life was in danger. — Acts v:17, 30. 
Their enemies decided to slay them, but were re- 
strained by Gamaliel. They were severely beaten 
before they were released, and commanded not 
to speak in the name of Jesus. But notwithstanding 
their narrow escape from death, and their severe 
scourging, and in spite of threats, they still preached 
the risen Saviour " daily in the temple, and in every 
house.' ' — Acts v: 33-42. One of their fellow- 
laborers was killed. — Acts vii. But they all stood 
firm. A great persecution arose, which caused the 
disciples generally to scatter abroad. But the apos- 
tles remained at their post, and risked their lives. — 
Acts viii : 1. One of the apostles was killed. — Acts 
xii: 2. But even that did not restrain the rest of them 
from giving testimony to the resurrection . This shows 
that they were willing to suffer death, if necessary, in 
attestation of the truth of what they preached. 



312 APPENDIX. 

Take Peter as a particular example. Before the 
crucifixion, fear of death impelled him to deny Jesus. 
But see how bold from the very day he proclaimed 
that Jesus was risen. Nothing could daunt him from 
Pentecost forward. The Sadducees were grieved be- 
cause he " preached through Jesus the resurrection " 
(Acts, iv: 2), and had him arrested and imprisoned. 
But when brought before the rulers he took pains to 
tell them. " Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye 
crucified, God raised from the dead (Acts, iv : 10), 
and when threatened and commanded to speak no 
more in that name, he replied: " We can not but 
speak the things which we have seen and heard" 
(iv : 20) ; and when further threatened and released, 
he, with the others, with great power gave " wit- 
ness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." (iv : 33. ) 
And when he was arrested with the whole college 
of apostles, he acted as spokesman when they 
declared in the face of all the priests, " The God of 
our fathers raised up Jesus," etc. (v: 29, 30.) And 
although threatened and severely beaten (v : 40) he 
continued to proclaim the resurrection with all con- 
ceivable boldness, till again arrested, when James was 
put to death. — Acts xii: 3. And notwithstanding 
James had been executed, and his own life had only 
been saved by a deliverance from prison, he continued 
to preach Jesus and the resurrection, till the close of 
his life. Then in the prospect of death, and with his 
Master's prediction that he should suffer martyrdom 



APPENDIX. 313 

before his mind, he serenely contemplates his dissolu- 
tion, and declares, " We have not followed cunningly 
devised fables.' ' — II Peter i: 14, 16. 

Take John as another example. He was with Peter 
when he was first arrested, shared his imprisonment 
and his threats, and all that Peter so boldly proclaimed, 
the beloved disciple sanctioned and endorsed. Their 
persecutors marvelled at the boldness, not only of 
Peter, but of John also. — Acts iv: 13. And about 
all that has been said of Peter could be said of John. 
When the twelve were arrested and punished, he 
shared their imprisonment and their stripes. — v: 40. 
Although, in the death of James he lost his own 
brother (xii : 2), he still remained true and steadfast, 
through a long and eventful life, laboring for Jesus 
with pen and tongue, and suffered banishment to the 
lonely Isle of Patmos rather than give up " the testi- 
mony of Jesus Christ." — Rev. i: 9. Though nat- 
urally as mild and gentle as the lamb, he displayed the 
bravery and fortitude of the lion, and would have sac- 
rificed his life in attestation of the resurrection, if 
called upon to do so. 

Finally, take Paul as an example. He changed from 
a fierce persecutor to a zealous advocate of the gospel. 
He assigned as the reason for the change that he had 
seen and conversed with the risen Jesus. After he 
commenced " preaching the faith which he once de- 
stroyed," several attempts were made to kill him. — 
Acts, ix : 23, 24; xiv : 5. But he continued to preach 



314 APPENDIX. 

the resurrection. Then he was stoned and left for 
dead (Acts, xiv: 19), but reviving he continued to 
proclaim the resurrection, both to Jews and Greeks. 
This proves just as much as his actual death would 
prove; for they aimed to kill him, and thought they 
had done it. We have even a stronger case than 
we would have if he had died at the time. For the 
fact that he continued to proclaim the gospel after he 
revived shows conclusively that he possessed such 
strong and certain evidence of the resurrection of 
Jesus, that he was willing to be killed rather than 
cease proclaiming it. As he declared when his friends 
tried to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem: "I 
am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at 
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." — Acts 
xxi: 13. And this he frequently declared in epistles, 
admitted even by skeptics to be genuine. He declared 
that he counted not his life dear unto himself — that 
to live was Christ and to die was gain. Then, writing 
of his sufferings, in common with others, he said : 

" We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are per- 
plexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast 
down, but not destroyed ; always bearing about in the body the 
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might 
be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always 
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of 
Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death 
worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, 
according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken: 
we also believe, and therefore speak: knowing that he which 
raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall 
present us with you." — II Cor. iv: 8-14. 



APPENDIX. 315 

Then in the last letter ever penned by the grand old 
soldier of the cross, which of itself shows that he ex- 
pected to be put to death, he wrote to Timothy, his 
son in the gospel : — 

"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised 
from the dead according to my gospel : wherein I suffer trouble as 
an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is- not bound. 
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may. 
also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 
It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall 
also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: If 
we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth 
faithful, he cannot deny himself." — II Tim. ii: 8-13. 

Finally, in the immediate prospect cf decapitation, 

he wrote : — 

"lam now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is 
at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I 
have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at 
that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his 
appearing." — II Tim. iv: 6-8. 

In view of these facts, the question as to how many 
of the apostles were actually killed is of greater con- 
cern to the historian than to the apologist. 



C. 

Infidel Review and Reply. 
The following review of the " Hand-Book of Chris- 
tian Evidence " appeared in the Liberal League Advo- 
cate, August 4th, 1880, over the signature " Servetus." 



316 APPENDIX. 

I do not know whether it was written by the editor or 
not, as both the editor and this writer seem ashamed 
to let their names appear in the little Infidel paper. 
I publish the article entire to let my readers know 
what Infidels have to say of this book. I have made 
no effort to find out the name of the writer, preferring 
to examine it solely upon its merits and demerits; 
and it possesses at least one of each: The respectful 
and gentlemanly tone of the writer is a mark of merit ; 
the inaccuracy of the article is a mark of demerit. The 
writer's inaccuracy, showing that he lacks perception, 
is exhibited in the very commencement of his article, 
in mentioning " Johnson & Burns " as publishers, in- 
stead of 'f John Burns," which was on the printed 
page before his eyes. Then, in the body of the article 
there are incorrect statements. As a sample, he speaks 
of Polytheism, Monotheism, and Atheism, " each put- 
ting forward a sacred book as a direct revelation ' ' 
when it is well known that Atheism discards both God 
and revelation. But read the article: — 

[For the Advocate.] 

A REVIEW. 

"Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." — St. Paul. 
Hand-book of Christian Evidence, by L. W. Scott, in two parts, pp. 
307. Johnson & Burns, publishers, St. Louis, Mo. 

This is, in the main, what it purports to be, a hand-book of Chris- 
tian evidence ; but the author starts out in Part I with a sort of an 
apocalyptic vision in advance of his " evidence," which he denomi- 
nates "Approximate proof of the divine origin of the Bible by rea- 
son of its analogy to nature. First, it is like nature in its combined 
simplicity and abstruseness," etc., etc. Thus, in these few words 



APPENDIX. 317 

are involved, 1st, The fundamental dogma. 2d, Five additional 
assumptions : — 

1. There is a Divinity. 

2. This Divinity made nature. 

3. Nature is simple. 

4. Nature is abstruse. 

5. The Bible is simple. 

6. The Bible is abstruse. 

Ergo, this Divinity made the Bible ! 

In order to test this mode of logic, let us introduce the .sacred 
book of any other religious system, say the Hindoos. Omitting for 
the sake of space the major term of the syllogism. 5. The Rig 
Veda is simple. 6. The Rig Veda is abstruse. Ergo, this Divinity 
made the Rig Veda. Again, take the Bible of the Mohammedans. 

5. The Koran is simple. The Koran is abstruse. Ergo, this Divin- 
ity made the Koran. But this fallacy is not only applicable to any 
supernatural volume, but it will do duty for any mundane tome as 
well. For instance: 5. Euclid's Elements of Geometry is simple. 

6. Euclid's Elements of Geometry is abstruse. Ergo, Euclid's Ele- 
ments of Geometry is the work of this Divinity. 

It is well known to every liberal student that the " Scriptures " 
of all religions treat upon two topics. 1. The comprehensible. 2. 
The incomprehensible. That is, the writers tell us, 1st, what they 
know — generally very little and of small practicable moment. 2d, 
What neither they nor any one else knows anything about. When 
one writes of what he knows nothing he is very apt to be "ab- 
struse," and his readers very naturally find it impossible to under- 
stand him. This, with devout people of every nation and religion, 
is a sure sign of inspiration. "Where knowledge ends there God 
begins." The child sees in the darkness something white, and be- 
cause it does not know or stop to reflect tljat the children have been 
swinging there and left the pillow, it runs into the house, pale and 
breathless with fright, and declares it has seen a ghost! A great 
many, aye, thousands, of grown-up children have witnessed — are 
seeing every day — "slate writing," "table tipping," "cabinet 
tricks," etc., etc., and because they do not understand the modus 
operandi, they at once conclude them to be spiritual manifestations ! 
Our forefathers used to drown old women because certain morbid 
phenomena, now well known as catalepsy and hysteria, were then 
believed to be the effects of witchcraft ! And the Christian Bible 
was appealed to as authority: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to 
live." Ex. xxii: 18. To-day, in Sumatra, the natives refuse to de- 
stroy tigers, though these animals annually commit frightful rav- 
ages upon human life, because they believe them to be visitations 
for irreiigion. The inhabitants of Siberia pay great respect to 
bears for the same reason. The Christians of Abyssinia, where the 
gospel has been preached for fifteen hundred years, will not touch 



318 APPENDIX. 

the skin of a hyena until it has been prayed over and exorcised by a 
priest. This all goes to show what superstitions humanity does not 
comprehend, by reason of its ignorance or credulity, is surely re- 
garded by it as a Divinity, or the operations of a supernatural 
agency! Hence, because Mr. Scott does not cognize the yet occult 
laws of the universe, therefore the universe is the manufacture of a 
Divinity, and because he has, in his mind, hedged around the Bible 
with an imaginary sacredness and mystery, precisely as the savage 
does his totem or his fetich, 

" Whose faith enshrines the monsters which it breeds," 

hence he does not understand it, and, therefore, the Bible must be 
the work of a Divinity. 

But, is not this' " analogy " far-fetched? Nature is infinite, eter- 
nal and imperishable. The Bible is finite and evanescent. Nature 
is omnipresent. The Bible is only known to a sixth part of the 
human family. There is but one Nature. There are many different 
and conflicting Bibles ! Philosophers do not fight over the solutions 
of Nature. Christians have cut each others' throats by the million 
over expositions of the Bible. 

Parallels of this description may serve, perhaps, as similitudes to 
exaggerate the subject, but can not be dignified as an " analogy," 
upon which to base an argument for the divine origin of a book. 
There can be no analogy between a printed literary composition, 
and an infinity of worlds. One is a primitive, mental outgrowth, 
and the other a physical phenomona? However, admitting pro 
tempore, that the universe is an effect, is it not wholly unreasonable, 
if not absurd in the third degree, to suppose that the same architect 
that produced Nature should make a book, or employ an amanuen- 
sis? One is so transcendant and inimitable, and the other so royal 
a road to parody, if not itself a base duplicate, with no critera to 
distinguish the genuine fr6m the counterfeit, nothing whatever to 
direct the understanding but the incessant polemics of adverse and 
bewildering theologues. 

When it is considered that there is " nothing in the heavens 
above nor in the earth beneath " which has not been, at some time 
or other, in the history of the race, either deified or endowed with 
supernatural attributes, too much caution cannot be exercised be- 
fore concluding that any special substance or particular thoughts 
is a divine manifestation! The unprejudiced reader will always 
bear in mind that heretofore it was not doubt but credulity which 
had been the dominant characteristic of the human mind. The less 
that was known of Nature the more was known of gods, and the 
more were humanity in subjection to the self- constituted oracles of 
ghostly entities! Cats, dogs, snakes, crocodiles, seas, rivers, 
springs, wells, mountains, storms, seas, the sun, moon, stars, etc., 
have been worshipped, throughout the world, as gods ! These were 



APPENDIX. 319 

the early and homogeneous objects of faith; but as the race "ac- 
cumulated experience," more heterogeneous forms of superstition 
were evolved; and Polytheism, Monotheism and Atheism have still 
their representatives, as vital religious systems — each putting for- 
ward a sacred book as a direct revelation. And here let us quote a 
remark by that celebrated oriental scholar and Christian gentleman, 
Max Muller, who says: "If we, as Protestants claim the right to 
appeal to the gospel as the only test by which our faith is to be 
judged, we must grant a similar privilege to Mohammedans and 
Buddhists, and to all who possess a written, and, as they believe, 
revealed authority for the articles of their faith." C. G. W., p. 182, 
Vol. I. If this be the true standard of criticism, and who can gain- 
say it, what becomes of Mr. Scott's " abstruseness " idea as an 
"approximate proof" of the divinity of the Bible. "Patent" and 
"latent" meanings are the alpha and omega of all Bibles: the 
Koran, of the Mohammedans; the Tripitaka, of the Buddhists; 
the Vedas, of the Brahmins ; the Eddas, of the Scandinavians ; the 
Zend-Avesta, of the Parsees; the Sutras, of the Jaens; the Granth, 
of the Sikhs; the Kings, of the Confucians, etc. 

To the disinterested unbeliever the Bible is not at all " abstruse." 
To him whose reason is not clouded by its promises or threats, it is 
naught but a man-made, imperfect yolume. Full of errors, replete 
in contradictions, and containing so much that is foolish, obscene 
and sanguinary, that he sincerely thinks it ought not to be read at 
all by young persons! 

God, we are invariably informed, is an infinitely wise, good and 
powerful being. Now where is the power, wisdom and goodness in 
writing a book — the disbelief of which results in such savage 
cruelty — in a language that not one in a million knows anything 
about, and then abandoning it through all the centuries to the 
bigotry, the ambition and the fallibility of rival sectarians to trans- 
late and construe. The bare idea that He who made all tongues 
and dialects would indite in defunct Hebrew, or Greek, or Syriac 
for the millions who speak only living English, or German, or 
French, or Spanish, or Italian, etc., etc., is most unnatural! 

It is peculiarly disagreeable for the " evidences " of Christianity 
that there have been so many gods and saviors and Bibles before 
it ! — all claiming divine origin, of course ! Some of these gods 
wrote in lingos long since dead! The Hindoo god, Brahman wrote 
his Bible in Sanskrit long before Moses was born ! The Persian 
god, Ormuzd wrote in Zend. The Jewish God, Jehovah, wrote in 
Hebrew! The Scandinavian god, Odin, wrote in Norse. The Mo- 
hammedan god, Allah, wrote in Arabic. Jesus wrote in Hebrew, or 
Greek, or Syriac, or Aramaic, it is not known which! Even Mr. 
Scott does not condescend any information on this vital point! The 
very latest spiritual news, in the shape of printed matter, is the 
Mormon Bible. God, it is said, wrote this in Egyptian! 



320 APPENDIX. 

Now, if there were any " abstruseness " about the Bible, it would 
be one of the strongest arguments against its divine authenticity. 
God, being infinitely wise and good (that is, provided there is not 
an esoteric significance to the words "wise" and " good," which 
is not found in the vocabularies) , would have inscribed his " word " 
upon the everlasting "firmament " in letters of burnished gold, and 
in a vernacular that could not be misapprehended, no more than 
one could misconceive the sensations of hunger and thirst! — that 
he could no more deny than he could deny the existence of the sun, 
moon or stars! — that he could no more need another's brain to 
define its import than he now requires another's stomach to digest 
his food ! Servetus . 



REPLY. 

I shall dissect the foregoing article and examine it 
item by item, numbering the points to assist the 
reader : — 

1. The reviewer grants that the book is, " in the 
main, what it purports to be, a Hand-Book of Chris- 
tian Evidence." This is a considerable admission, 
and probably explains why the writer made no attempt 
to review any portion of this book except the first 
chapter, and noticed only one of the three points made 
in that. Here are six long chapters, and " Servetus " 
attacks only the shortest ; and he confines his attack 
to one-third of that. The Bible is shown to be like 
Nature in three particulars : 1 . Its Combined Simplic- 
ity and Profundity; 2. Its Unity and Harmony; 3. 
Its Adaptation to Man. He confines his strictures to 
the first. Now, my argument is not built on the first 
"analogy," but upon a combination of the three; 
and upon all the marks of similarity, of which those 
three are cited as samples. To show that some other 



APPENDIX. 321 

book is analagous to Nature in one of those points 
will not meet the argument. 

2 . * ' Approximate Proof. ' ' Yes , I merely put forth 
the evidence in the first chapter as approximate proof , 
and the Infidel gains nothing if he shows it is incon- 
clusive. Why did he not attack that which was put 
forth as conclusive proof? Does not his failure to 
do so, prove the correctness of the statement of the 
editor of the Sunday -School Times, that it is " un- 
answerable, or even unassailable, as a vindication of 
the Christian faith! " 

3. As to five assumptions being involved in the 
argument, I reply : 1st. I admit that it waives the dis- 
cussion as to the existence of Deity, and is addressed 
to those that admit that he is the author of Nature. 
2d. I do not assume that Nature is simple and abstruse, 
and the Bible simple and abstruse, but proceed to 
show it. 

4. To test this mode of logic, " Servetus " proposes 
to " introduce the sacred book of any other religion." 
Certainly, you have a right to show that the Rig Veda 
and the Koran are analogous to Nature, if you can. 
But you do not attempt to do so. I brought up 
arguments and illustrations to show the wonderful 
similarity of Nature and the Bible ; but you do not 
attempt to do the same for other sacred books ; but 
go off and bring up the Koran, that is not read 'by 
one in a thousand, and the Rig Veda, that is not read 
by one in a million, and tell the people that these 

21 



322 APPENDIX. 

books are just like Nature and the Bible, and expect 
people to accept it merely upon your ipsi dixit. If 
this is not the purport of your argument, there is no 
point at all in what you say. 

As to " Euclid's Elements of Geometry,' ' it is well 
known to every scholar that it does not possess the 
characteristics of Nature and the Bible under consid- 
eration. It is characteristic of all school books to be 
plain and simple like the primer, or deep and profound 
like the calculus. Then, if you could show that these 
books, Rig Veda, Koran and Euclid's Elements, did 
possess this characteristic of Nature to the wonderful 
extent that the Bible does, it would be necessary to go 
further and show that they possessed the other char- 
acteristics of the Bible before they could be put on a 
level with that remarkable book. 

5. The writer's effort to account for the combined 
simplicity and incomprehensibility of the Bible by the 
statement that all Scripture writers tell, first, what 
they know, and then launch out into what they do not 
know, reminds me of the school child who would ac- 
count for the production of the calculus, by saying 
that the writer did not understand what he wrote. The 
child would display a lack of common sense, inexcus- 
able even in one of tender age, to conclude that the au- 
thors of its school-books did not understand anything 
above a primer, because, forsooth, it understood noth- 
ing else. And what shall we say of a man will who pick 
out such portions of books as are plain to him, and say 



APPENDIX. 323 

that the writers understood what they were treating of 
when they penned those portions, but that they knew 
not whereof they affirmed when they wrote such por- 
tions as he himself cannot comprehend. Furthermore, 
if the writers themselves did not understand what they 
penned in the Scriptures, how will " Servetus " account 
for the wonderful System of Religion taught in that 
Book? The Remedial System is a science, as much so 
as geology or astronomy, and the thoughtful study of 
it will show that it possesses, as a whole, order, design, 
arrangement, plan; while co-ordination, adjustment, 
and adaptation are manifest in the relation of its vari- 
ous parts, thus presenting a parallel to the natural 
universe. If the writers understood not these things, 
they must have been guided by some mind that did. 

My reviewer's far-fetched allusion to Spiritualism 
has no bearing on the question as to whether the Bible 
parallels Nature, and must have been covertly intro- 
duced to insinuate that that ghostly system is on a level 
with Christianity, which is far from true. By refer- 
ence to the section on Spiritualism in this work it 
will be seen that it is diametrically opposed to Chris- 
tianity, that there is no more fellowship between the 
two systems than there is between light and darkness, 
or Christ and Belial. . 

Just as irrelevant his allusion to witches, and to the 
superstitions of the heathen Summatrans and Siberians. 
If there is any force in his argument it can be resolved 
into a syllogism, as follows: The Puritans killed 



324 APPENDIX. 

witches, while the heathens spared tigers and bears ; 
therefore the author of Nature is not the author of 
the Bible ! But as " Servetus " has left the subject 
and gone off to hunt up witches, I will ask if he means 
to hold Christianity responsible for a failure on the 
part of a few of its professed adherents to ' ' rightly 
divide ' ' the Scriptures ? Because a few fanatics for- 
got that Christians were " not under the law, but un- 
der grace; " not under Moses, but, under Christ ; and, 
leaving the Christian Scriptures, had recourse to the 
Jewish Scriptures, which they misconceived and mis- 
applied, is no reason why the peaceful Religion of the 
gentle Nazarene should be rejected or held in disesteem. 
But if an argument against the analogy between Na- 
ture and the Bible is meant to be made, I reply that 
the very reasoning of ' ' Servetus ' ' would furnish an 
analogy. For if he holds the Bible responsible for 
the drowning of witches, Nature is responsible as well, 
for he says that catalepsy and hysteria — natural dis- 
orders — were mistaken for the effects of witchcraft. 
The truth is, the Puritans misinterpreted both Nature 
and the Bible. They applied to themselves a law ap- 
plicable only to the Jews, and one long since abrogated. 
But, to one familiar with the fearful effects of witch- 
craft, as seen in Spiritualism and " Voodooism," it 
will not seem strange that it was made a capital 
offence under the rigid Mosaic law, which was limited 
in jurisdiction and temporary in duration. 



APPENDIX. 325 

But "Servetus" makes another bound, and lands in 
Abyssinia, where he learns that the Catholics, whom 
he terms Christians, will not touch the skin of a hyena 
till it has been manipulated by a priest ! Why did he 
not complete his argument, by adding: " Therefore, 
the Bible is neither simple nor abstruse? " Suppose 
the Gospel has been preached in that benighted land 
for fifteen hundred years (which I seriously question), 
were not the people just as superstitious before its 
introduction as they have been since, if not more so? 
And must Christianity be held responsible for super- 
stitions in vogue before it went there, when to it is 
attributable all the improvement those people have 
made ? You might as well undertake to hold the Bible 
responsible for the Infidelity of " Servetus," or the 
Atheism of Ingersoll. Will Infidels never learn that 
where a land is blessed with the Gospel, that it is not 
the only influence at work? Where Christianity once 
gains a foothold, even in a corrupted form, Infidels 
wish to hold it responsible for all wrongs and absurdi- 
ties brought about by the various causes and multi- 
tudinous circumstances that operate, while they with- 
hold credit for all the good it does in spite of adverse 
circumstances. This is both unfair and illogical. 

But " Servetus " says, this all goes to show that what 
superstitious humanity cannot comprehend it regards 
as the work of a Divinity ! It does, eh? Is " spirit- 
rapping" regarded as the work of a Divinity? Far 
from it. It is neither so regarded by friend nor foe. 



326 



APPENDIX. 



Was witchcraft regarded, either among Puritans or 
Jews, as the work of Divinity ? Surely not, or witches 
would not have been punished. 

My reviewer's premises being all swept away there 
is no ground for his high sounding conclusion : 
" Hence, because Mr. Scott does not cognize the yet 
occult laws of the universe, therefore the universe is 
the manufacture of a Divinity." But, I remark on 
that, it is not simply because / cannot understand fully 
the operations of nature, that I thence draw an argu- 
ment — but because they cannot be comprehended fully 
by a single member of the human family — not even 
by the brightest intellect. Furthermore, it is not 
simply for this reason that I regard the universe as the 
work of Deity, but because I have many and insuper- 
able reasons. Nor is it true, that because I have 
"hedged around the Bible with an imaginary sacred- 
ness," that I conclude that it must be the " work of a 
Divinity; " but because I have proved its divine origin 
by facts which " Servetus " dared not assail, 'and argu- 
ments that he could not even attempt to refute. 

6. "Servetus " thinks the analogy far-fetched; and 
would break the force of it by introducing what he 
regards as marks of diversity : — 

1st. He regards "nature as infinite, eternal and 
imperishable " — the Bible finite and evanescent. 

Neither "Servetus " nor the author are capable of 
deciding on the infinity of nature, unless we could 

" Trace by steps each planet's heavenly way, 
Or fill at once the realms of space, a thing of eyes that all survey I " 



APPENDIX. 327 

And so far from Nature being eternal, we have 
proof to the contrary. The essential properties of 
matter and force, such as cohesion and adhesion, at- 
traction and repulsion ; the elementary substances of 
matter and their peculiar characteristics;, and the 
co-ordination of all materials and forces in the universe 
in exact mathematical law and proportion in numerical 
expression and magnitude, and geometric form, in a 
system realizing the most exalted and abstract ideas of 
reason, demonstrates that Nature is an effect — that 
there was necessarily mind back of it, in the very con- 
stitution of things, and consequently, that it has not 
existed from eternity. How remarkable that Infidel- 
ity at one time maintains the eternity of the world, 
and at another pretends to tell just how old it is ! And 
as to the claim that Nature is imperishable ; the change 
and unrest of which we are continually cognizant, the 
withering of flowers, the decaying of fruits, the death 
of animals, furnish sufficient demonstration that it is as 
evanescent as " Servetus " regards the Bible. Neither 
Nature nor the Bible are eternal, but both possess 
marks showing that their author is ; hence the analogy 
holds good. As to the Bible being known to only one 
sixth of the human family, I remark that in affirming 
its divine origin, I do not allude to the bundle of paper 
of which it is composed, but to the system therein 
revealed. The Bible makes known the dealings of God 
with man in all ages, and while there are changes of 
dispensation, " it is the same God who worketh all in 



328 APPENDIX. 

all." " His kingdom ruleth over all." The remedial 
system is as " omni-present " and all embracing as 
Nature itself. Furthermore, God revealed himself in 
the beginning, and if men lost sight of him, it was 
because they " did not- like to retain God in their 
knowledge/' and he gave them over to "reprobacy of 
mind," till Christ came. Then he caused the Gospel 
to be preached to all nations, and if they either 
rejected it or neglected to retain it, they are left with- 
out excuse. Not only so, but ignorance of Nature 
prevails to the same extent as ignorance of Scripture ; 
and in the world's apostasy, mentioned in the first 
chapter of Eomans, just to the extent that men lost 
sight of revelation, to that extent did they become 
ignorant or regardless of Nature, and "leaving the 
natural use," did things injurious and unseemly. 

2d. There is, he says, only one Nature, but many 
conflicting Bibles. 

That Nature is a unit, I admit. To the statement 
that there are many Bibles, it is sufficient reply to say 
that there is but one Bible, as superior to the Rig 
Yeda, Koran, etc., as the genuine is to counterfeit 
coin. 

3d. The statement that " Christians have cut each 
other's throats by the million over expositions of the 
Bible," is as false as it is reproachful. It would be 
difficult for " Servetus " to prove that a single Christian 
ever cut the throat of another over an exposition of the 
Scripture. If he says he does not mean, literally, 



APPENDIX. 329 

what he states, but alludes to well-known persecutions, 
I reply : — 

In the first place, those martyrs were not put to 
death on account of expositions of Scripture, but be- 
cause they read the Bible. It was, therefore, opposi- 
tion to the Bible, and consequently Infidelity, that 
caused innocent victims to suffer ! Why, right here 
in the Infidel paper that contains the article of "Serve- 
tus," history is quoted to prove that in the time of 
Pope Alexander V., " several persons were burned on 
refusing to abjure their principles for having read the 
New Testament.' ' And in the same article Townley's 
History is quoted as authority for the fact that a law 
was passed by the English Parliament, in the reign of 
Henry V., that all persons who read the Bible in their 
mother tongue should forfeit their lives and all their 
possessions. Yes, it was just such opposition to the 
Bible as " Servetus," Ingersoll, etal., now manifest that 
caused the bitter persecutions of the past. Those 
bigoted Romanists and Churchmen were guided in 
their bloody work by the spirit of Infidelity, whatever 
may have been their pretensions to Christianity. So, 
" Servetus," in the name of the friends of the Bible, who 
have suffered death rather than renounce it, I hurl back 
the foul aspersion with indignation and scorn. 

In the second place, wherever and whenever Infidel- 
ity has held sway the cloven-foot has been exhibited 
and the crimson blood of humanity has flowed like 
streams after heavy rains. It were sufficient merely to 



330 APPENDIX. 

call to mind the bloody persecutions waged by Infidel 

Emperors and the well-known Eeign of Terror in 

France; but as that able and distinguished jurist, 

Judge Jeremiah S. Black, has so forcibly presented 

the contrast between Infidelity and Christianity, in his 

inimitable review of Ingersoll, in the North American 

Revieio, I give place to his eloquent remarks and treat 

the reader to what he says : — 

" Eeflect what kind of a world this was when the disciples of 
Christ undertook to reform it, and compare it with the condition in 
which their teachings have put it. In its mighty metropolis, the 
center of its intellectual and political power, the best men were ad- 
dicted to vices so debasing that I could not even allude to them 
without soiling the paper I write upon. All manner of unprinci- 
pled wickedness was practiced in the private life of the whole popu- 
lation without concealment or shame, and the magistrates were 
thoroughly and universally corrupt. Benevolence in any shape was 
altogether unknown. The helpless and the weak got neither jus- 
tice nor mercy. There was no relief for the poor, no succor for 
the sick, no refuge for the unfortunate. In all pagandom there was 
not a hospital, asylum, almshouse or organized charity of any sort. 
The indifference to human life was literally frightful. The order 
of a successfel leader to assassinate his opponents was always 
obeyed by his followers with the utmost alacrity and pleasure. It 
was a special amusement of the populace to witness the shows at 
which men were compelled to kill one another, to be torn in pieces 
by wild beasts, or otherwise "butchered to make a Roman Holiday." 
In every province paganism enacted the same cold-blooded cruel- 
ties; oppression and robbery ruled supreme; murder went ram- 
paging and red over all the earth. The church came, and her light 
penetrated this moral darkness like a new sun. She covered the 
globe with institutions of mercy, and thousands upon thousands of 
her disciples devoted themselves exclusively to works of charity, at 
the sacrifice of every earthly interest. Her earliest adherents were 
killed without remorse — beheaded, crucified, sawn asunder, thrown 
to the beasts, or covered with pitch, piled up in great heaps and 
slowly burnt to death. But her faith was made perfect through 
suffering, and the law of love rose in triumph from the ashes of her 
martyrs. This religion has come down to us through the ages, at- 
tended all the way by righteousness, justice, temperance, mercy, 
transparent truthfulness, exulting hope and white-winged charity. 
Never was its influence for good more plainly perceptible than now. 



APPENDIX. 331 

It has not converted, purified, and reformed all men, for its first 
principle is the freedom of the human will, and there are those who 
choose to reject it. But to the mass of mankind, directly and indi- 
rectly, it has brought uncounted benefits and blessings. Abolish 
it — take away the restraints which it imposes on evil passions — 
silence the admonitions of its preachers — let all Christians cease 
their labors of charity — blot out from history the records of its 
heroic benevolence — repeal the laws it has enacted and the insti- 
tutions it has built up — let its moral principles be abandoned and 
all its miracles of light be extinguished — what would we come to? 
I need not answer this question ; the experiment has been partially 
tried. The French nation formally renounced Christianity, denied 
the existence of the Supreme Being, and so satisfied the hunger of 
the Infidel heart for a time. What followed? Universal depravity, 
garments rolled in blood, fantastic crimes unimagined before, 
which startled the earth with their sublime atrocity. The Ameri- 
can people have and ought to have no special desire to follow that 
terrible example of guilt and misery." 

7. Our reviewer next admits the universe to be an 
effect, but inquires if it is not " wholly unreasonable, 
if not absurd in the third degree," to suppose that the 
Creator thereof would write a book or employ an 
amanuensis. I reply, no more unreasonable than to 
create a world — no more absurd than to bring into ex- 
istence serpents and fleas. It would be very unrea- 
sonable to suppose that a good and kind Creator would 
let man grope his way in the dark, and not give a 
revelation to guide him. If there be a God, the most 
reasonable and consistent thing he could do would be 
to make verbal revelations. It is just as unreasonable 
to suppose he would not do so, as to suppose a father 
would never speak to his children and impart instruc- 
tion when they needed it. The unreasonable thing is 
to reject the Bible, the absurd thing is for Infidels to 
oppose the revelation God has in mercy given them. 



332 APPENDIX. 

It is as unreasonable as to close their natural eyes to 
the light, as absurd as to attempt to blot out the sun. 

" Wrong not the Christian, think not reason yours I 
'Tis reason our great Master holds so dear; 
'Tis reason's injured rights his wrath resents: 
'Tis reason's voice obeyed his glories crown — 
On argument alone our faith is built." 

8. Our reviewer next objects to the Bible for the 
reason that everything in existence has been deified — 
cats, dogs, snakes, crocodiles, etc., having been wor- 
shipped as gods. 

Now, it is singular, not merely " in the third de- 
gree,'' according to the gentleman's phraseology, but 
even in the first degree, that any sane man would op- 
pose the Bible because of the prevalence of idolatry, 
when it is well known that the Bible is the great anti- 
dote for idolatry. While all other nations were wor- 
shipping objects of nature, bowing down to stocks and 
stones, paying divine homage even to crawling rep- 
tiles, the Jews, revelation in hand, maintained a knowl- 
edge of the Supreme Ruler of the universe. While 
some nations were worshipping cattle, they were sacri- 
ficing cattle to the all-wise God : and, with their off- 
spring, adoring a Being of infinite perfections, while 
surrounding nations were causing their children to pass 
through the fire to Moloch. And, furthermore, when 
the gospel of Christ was preached, idolatry melted be- 
fore it like snow before the sun, causing even heathen 
rulers to complain that their idolatrous temples had 
ceased to be frequented. To oppose the Bible because 



APPENDIX. 333 

idolatry is practiced is as unreasonable as to kill the 
cats because rats and mice are plentiful. 

9. The next argument brought up is a remark of 
Max Muller. He says "that celebrated oriental 
scholar ' ' maintains that Mohammedanism and Buddh- 
ism should be tested in the same manner as Chris- 
tianity, i.e., by their writings ; and then triumphantly 
inquires what becomes of Mr. Scott's approximate 
proof for the divinity of the Bible. Shades of Lycur- 
gus and Socrates ! Let Lord Bacon stand aside, and 
Aristotle take off his hat in the presence of such logic ! 
" Servetus " should have had the politeness to introduce 
his premises to his conclusion, for they are certainly 
very great strangers. If Max Muller had said all my 
reviewer would make him say, it would not prove any- 
thing. But he misapprehends the idea of that author 
altogether. He is not speaking of the relative evi- 
dences in favor of this system or those, but of the test 
by which they are to be judged. That is, you are not 
to look to the practices and opinions of its adherents 
to learn the teachings of any particular religion, but 
to the standard writings thereof. If you wish to learn 
what Mohammedanism is, go to the Koran; if you 
wish to learn what Buddhism is, go to the Tripitaka; 
if you wish to know what Christianity is, go to the 
New Testament. I readily accept the test. Then, 
what becomes of " Servetus' "objection to Christianity 
on account of what some of its adherents have done? 
Look to the speeches of Jesus the Christ, and to the 



334 APPENDIX. 

writings of his apostles, if you wish to test our relig- 
ion, and not to witch-hunting among the Puritans, 
perversions and corruptions in Greek and Latin 
churches, nor yet to divisions among Protestants at the 
present day. According to this test, we have only to 
compare the New Testament with the Koran to learn 
the comparative merits of Christianity and Mohamme- 
danism. If we find the followers of Mahomet mur- 
dering idolaters and maintaining a plurality of wives, 
we must examine the Koran, and if we find that it 
recognizes such practices, we may legitimately set it 
down as a part of that religion. Then, if we find fol- 
lowers of Christ drowning witches or burning persons 
for reading the Scriptures, we must go to the New 
Testament; and if we find no sanction of such con- 
duct there, we must conclude that it is no part of Chris- 
tianity, but a departure from its principles. This test 
effectually demolishes an objection to Christianity 
which runs through the article of " Servetus " and leav- 
ens the writings of modern Infidels generally. That 
objection is that there are other religions besides Chris- 
tianity, claiming other books as sacred besides the 
Bible. I say this test demolishes that objection, for 
we have only to compare the Scriptures with the Koran 
and all other so-called sacred books to be convinced 
that the Bible is as superior to them as the sun to can- 
dles, or genuine gold to counterfeit coin. Compare, 
for instance, the Koran with the New Testament. The 
Koran allows a plurality of wives in this life, and 



APPENDIX. 335 

promises the same in the life to come ; while Chris- 
tianity allows but one wife, and teaches that "in the 
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage/' The motto of Mahomet was the "Koran, 
tribute, or the sword;" while Jesus enjoined non- 
resistence, declaring that those who take the sword 
shall perish with the sword. To refuse Christianity 
because of the existence of Mohammedanism would 
be like refusing pure gold because of the existence of 
counterfeit coin ; and to refuse the Bible because of 
the existence of effete religions with their sacred 
books, such as Brahmanism with its Vedas, and Parsee- 
ism with its Zend Avesta, is as illogical as to refuse 
United States currency because the continental money 
of our fathers is no longer valuable, or because there 
existed for a short time a Southern Confederacy with 
its currency, as attractive to the eye and as well exe- 
cuted mechanically as the present notes of our national 
banks. 

10. " Servetus " next raises the thread-bare cry of 
contradictions in the Bible. I am astonished that he 
should bring up this stale objection; especially in view 
of my remarks on that subject in the very chapter 
under review. The question is upon the analogy 
between Nature and the Bible. I made an argument 
on the fact that there are apparent discrepancies in 
both, but no real contradictions in either. It is strange 
that " Servetus " should raise the old war cry, without 
paying any attention to my arguments and illustrations 



336 APPENDIX. 

on that subject. I refer the reader to page 33 of this 
work. 

11. He charges that the Bible contains " much 
that is foolish, obscene and sanguinary." Will he 
pretend that his modesty is shocked by reading the 
Bible ? Is it necessary to remind him that even Inger- 
soll resigned his position as Vice-President in the 
Infidel convention in Chicago, and gave it up in dis- 
gust, because they passed a resolution demanding a 
repeal of the law against sending obscene literature 
through the mails ! Again, must we conclude that God 
is not the author of Nature, because we there find some 
things contrary to our taste ? And must we reject the 
Bible for the same reason ? Such a course would be 
more modest than wise. But he says the man without 
his reason clouded " sincerely thinks it ought not to be 
read at all by young persons.' ' The great and good 
of earth differ from him in that opinion. I make a 
few quotations : — 

" So great is my veneration for the Bible, that the earlier my chil- 
dren begin to read it the more confident my hopes that they will 
prove useful citizens to their country, and respectable members of 
society." — John Quincy Adams. 

"That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests." — 
Andrew Jackson. 

" I have always said, and always will say, that the studious per- 
usal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers 
and better husbands." — Thomas Jefferson. 

" The Bible is the best book in the world." — John Adams. 

"Worth all other books which were ever printed." — Patrick 
Henry. 

" There is but one book." — Sir Walter Scott. 

"I have always had, and always shall have a profound regard for 
Christianity." — Henry Clay. 



APPENDIX. 337 

"I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn 
to justify me in expressing to my fellow-citizens a profound rever- 
ence for the Christian Religion." — President Harrison, in Inaugural 
Address. 

"There is not a boy nor a girl, all Christendom through, but 
their lot is made better by this great book." — Theodore Parker. 

" I account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philos- 
ophy." — Sir Isaac Newton. 

"A noble book. All men's book. It is our first statement of the 
never-ending problem of man's destiny." — Thomas Carlyle. [Mr. 
Carlyle alluded particularly to the book of Job.] 

"The secret of England's greatness." — Queen Vicfria. 

For these, and many similar quotations, see Monser's 
Encyclopaedia, pages 446-448. 

12. The last and least objection of " Servetus " is 
that the Bible was written in languages not generally 
understood. He thinks it shows lack of wisdom and 
goodness to " indite in defunct Hebrew, Greek,' ' etc., 
instead of English, German, etc., and thinks it should 
have been inscribed on the firmament, " and in a 
vernacular that could not be misapprehended " any 
more than hunger and thirst ! 

Now, the unreasonableness of Infidelity will appear 
when we inquire what " vernacular " it is that cannot 
be misapprehended? and where can such a language 
be found? There is no universal language in which 
God could make a revelation, and inscribe it on the 
firmament. Languages are born of circumstances, and 
are subject to growth, decay and death. God does 
exhibit wisdom and goodness. When any wise and 
good man has anything to say to a people, he says it 
in the language of that people. God does the same. 
He speaks to men so as to be understood — takes their 

22 



338 APPENDIX. 

language as he finds it. The talk of " Servetus " about 
" defunct Hebrew" is calculated to mislead, if , in- 
deed, it was not intended to do so. God never did 
" indite in defunct Hebrew," or any other " defunct " 
language. The Hebrew was a living, spoken and well- 
understood language when the Old Testament revel- 
ation was made. It was made to the Jews, and 
made in their language. There being no universal 
language, when Jehovah made a revelation to one 
nation, he used the language of that one nation; but 
when he made a revelation to- the whole human 
family, even the gospel, which was intended for 
all nations, he used the languages of all nations. He 
did just what we would naturally and reasonably ex- 
pect him to do — endowed the apostles with power to 
speak in all the languages of earth. Then, the New 
Testament was written in Greek, but has since been 
translated into all the languages of earth. The " wis- 
dom and goodness " exhibited in this matter, is second 
only to that displayed in the remedial system itself. 
Language being subject to mutation, if Hebrew and 
Greek had remained living, spoken languages after the 
Scriptures were written, the unavoidable changes of 
18 centuries would have rendered the Bible to a great 
extent unintelligible, and caused eternal contention and 
dispute. But those becoming "defunct languages,'* 
to use the classical style of my reviewer, the Scriptures 
became as it were stereotyped, and when any differ- 
ence arises over translations, scholars can appeal to the 



APPENDIX. 339 

original and see just what the Holy Spirit indited. So 
great is the change of language, that Bibles and other 
books written or printed in the English of past cen- 
turies cannot be understood by the English-speaking 
people of to-day. As to the fallibility of translations, 
mentioned by " Servetus," I would only remark that 
however faulty a translation, it cannot change the 
original ; also that President Campbell echoed the 
thought of all the well-informed when he said he had 
never seen a translation of the Bible, in any language, 
from which a man could not learn his duty, if disposed 
to do it. 

The statement of " Servetus" that Brahma wrote 
a Bible in Sanscrit long before Moses was born, is a 
mistake, like his statement that Atheism has a sacred 
book put forward as a direct revelation. His state- 
ment that " Jesus wrote in Hebrew, or Greek, or 
Syriac, or Aramaic; it is not known which !" is a 
similar mistake. Jesus never wrote anything, except 
when he wrote with his finger in the sand ; and what 
he then wrote was, like the argument of " Servetus," 
soon swept away. 

Finally. I have introduced the foregoing ' * review ' ' 
to show the weakness of Infidelity. Now, look at the 
article of «' Servetus " as a whole, and compare it with 
the book of which it is intended to be a " review." 
In the very preface of the Hand-Book of Christian 
Evidence, the author asked three questions which he 
defied the Infidel world to answer. "Servetus" 



340 APPENDIX. 

passed over them without mention. In Chapter I, the 
author presented the analogy between Nature and the 
Bible, which he showed to be at least threefold, mod- 
estly setting it forth as "approximate proof." The 
reviewer undertook to reply to one point merely, and 
in doing that scattered all over the world and the uni- 
verse, hurling handfuls of commonplace objections 
that have been time and again exploded. In the sec- 
ond and third chapters, the author adduced prophecies 
that had been strikingly fulfilled, defying Infidels to 
show that one of them had failed. The reviewer at- 
tempted no review of those portions. In the following 
chapters, the author proved, as he claimed, the resur- 
rection of Christ, and thence argued the divine origin 
of the Christian religion, and by Infidel admissions, 
facts of history, and almost innumerable miscellaneous 
arguments. But the " reviewer " made no attempt to 
" review." Why did he not? There can be but one an- 
swer — he could not. The strength of Infidelity is the 
veriest weakness. And, although " Servetus " has done 
about as well as any Infidel could have done, the author is 
glad to insert his review entire to show how futile any 
attempt to refute the standard evidences set forth in 
this volume, and because it afforded an opportunity to 
present and refute some of the most current Infidel 
objections. But to multiply words is unnecessary as 
it must be apparent to the reader that a persistent 
Infidel can only remain such either through ignorance 
or obstinacy. Some of them aver their " obstinacy." 



APPENDIX. 341 

Ingersoll, for example, in his lecture on "Love, 
Liberty, and Law," published in The Owl, of Septem- 
ber, 1881, declares his unwillingness to believe in 
Christianity, in the following words: — 

" Rather than have this Christianity true, I would rather all the 
gods would destroy themselves this morning. I would rather the 
whole universe would go to nothing, if such a thing were possible, 
this instant. Rather than have the glittering dome of pleasure reared 
on the eternal abyss of pain, I would see the utter and eternal destruc- 
tion of this universe . I would rather see the shining fabric of our uni- 
verse crumble to unmeaning chaos and take itself where oblivion breeds 
and memory forgets. I would rather the blind Sampson of some 
imprisoned force, released by thoughtless chance, should so rack 
and strain this world that man in stress and straint, in astonish- 
ment and fear, should suddenly fall back to savagery and bar- 
barity." 

Of course, if a man is determined to reject the Bible 
at all hazards, preferring that his fellow-men should 
become savages and barbarians rather than to have the 
truth of the Christian religion established, he can dis- 
believe. But, if he will honestly and sincerely investi- 
gate the evidence, with a willingness to believe upon 
testimony, he will not fail to find abundant proof that 
the Bible contains a System of Religion of transcendent 
worth and unrivalled beauty — a system adapted to 
meet the wants and yearnings of man, lifting him up 
from degradation and misery in this life, and assuring 
him of a life to come. Those who do the will of God 
know of the doctrine that it is true. All loyal subjects 
of his reign find the Remedial System a never-failing 
fountain, able to purify from all iniquity, and presen 
them faultess before his throne, with exceeding joy. 



INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 



PAGE 

Agassiz, Prof., Graham Lectures 257 

Adrian, Emperor 189 

American Cyclopaedia 280, 282, 306, 308 

Anthon, Prof. Charles 152 

Addison, Spectator 50 

Athenagorus 170 

Atherstone, Fall of Nineveh 45, 48 

Adams, John 336 

Adams, John Quincy 336 

Anaximenes 24 

Aristotle 24 

Atlantic Monthly 87 

Astounding Facts from the Spirit Land .... 134 

Aristides 166 

Abercius 166 

Appollinarious 166, 204 

Arrian 188 

Appian . 280 

Adams' Map of History 264 

Answer to Paine's Age of Reason 176 

Agnostic 315 

Boyle 24 

Black, Dr 24 

Black, Judge Jeremiah S 263, 330 

Breidenbachius 60 

Browne, Dr. E. B. M., Jewish Rabbi 176 

Bataneotes (Porphyry) 203 

Bentley, Dr. R., 210 

(343) 



344 INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 

PAGE 

Bards of the Bible ......... 285 

Blauvelt, Augustus 13 

Braden, Clark, Problem of Problems ...... 14 

Bishop, the of Winchester 11 

Bishop, the of Philadelphia 108 

Bishops, the Gallican, Address to the Pope .... 106 

Buckingham, Travels 51, 52 

Burckharclt, J. L., Travels in Syria 54, 55 

Barclay, Dr. J. T., City of the Great King 58, 59 

Bochart 64 

Brown, Capt. H. H 119, 125 

Banner of Light 119,121,138,141 

Brittan, S. B., Kichraond and Brittan Debate . . . 122 
Ballou, in N. Y. Tribune ... % ... 137 

Branch, Mrs. Julia 138 

Berosus, Chaldean Historian 63, 151 

Barnabas, Epistle 166, 220 

Brevarium upon the Psalter 205, 310 

Bloomfleld, Greek Testament 306 

Bingham, Antiquities 306, 307, 310 

Bolton, Prof. W. J 310 

Byron, Lord 28, 90, 326 

Cartwright, John 47 

Civilta Catolica ......... 106 

Campbell and Purcell Debate .... 106, 108, 110 

Codex Sinaiticus 173, 220 

Clay, Hon. Henry 336 

Carlyle, Sir Thomas 337 

Constantine, Emperor 93 

Chalmers, Christian Evidence 162 

Claudius Apollinaris 169 

Clement, of Alexandria 172 

Clement, of Rome 166, 306 

Celsus, True Word . . . 196, 198, 200, 201, 202, 203 

Campbell, Alexander 196 

Cyril Contr. Julian 207, 305 



INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 345 

TAGE 

Conybeare and Hovvson, Life and Epistles of Paul . 306, 307 

Conway, Moncure D 264 

Common Sense 144, 149, 264 

Christian Standard 264 

Cocker, Christianity and Greek Philosophy .... 266 

De Pressense, Dr. E 10 

Diodorus Siculus 43, 45, 46, 47 

Du Pin, History 108 

Davis, Andrew Jackson 117, 127, 130, 139 

Diogenes Laertius 225 

Doddridge, Dr. Philip 201, 204 

Diogenes, Philosopher, 24 

Duke of Somerset, 13 

Dryden, Poet, 288 

Ellicott, Bishop C. J 11 

Encyclopedia on Evidences 220, 337 

Epistle of Barnabas 220 

Evangelical Preparation . . 282 

Encyclopaedia Brittanica 80 

Educator 119 

Errett, Isaac, Spiritualism Self-Condemned, . 126, 127, 128, 130 

Eusebius, Pamphilus 170, 171, 174, 280 

Epictetus 188, 191 

Froude, James Anthony 9 

Fisher, Prof 9 

Fowle 12 

Furness, Dr. W. H 175 

Fenelon, Lives of Ancient Philosophers .... 225 

Gladstone, Prime Miuister 12 

Gibbon, Sir Edward, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 

79, 80, 84, 105, 113, 182, 157, 213, 274, 268, 284, 303 

Graves, Kersey 69 

Gregory the Great 103, 113 

Grant, Miles, Spiritualism Unveiled .... 124, 125 



346 INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 

PAGE 

Greenleaf, Simon, LL. D., Testimony of the Evangelists, 

162, 164, 294 

Gridley, Dr 134, 137 

Galileo 24 

Gesenius, Hebrew Lexicon, . 30 

Gregory, Olynthus, 99 

Gemara 192 

Gilflllan, George, 285 

Hnrst, Prof 9 

Hinsdale, B. A., Genuineness and Authenticity of the Gos- 
pels 12, 165, 171, 221 

Haitho, an Armenian . 47 

Herodotus . . . 63, 64, 66 

Harris, Dr. T. L 119, 133, 146 

Hatch, Dr. B. F 134 

Hitchcock, Geology . . 149 

Heinson, Carl 149 

Hales . 24 

Harris' Great Teacher 279 

Hall, Dr. Wilford 146 

Hecateus 152 

Hume . 100, 293 

Henry, Patrick 336 

Harrison, Pres. William Henry . .'- . . . 337 

Irby 55 

Inglis, Missionary ......... 264 

Hlustrated Rambles in Bible Lands ..... 229 

Indianapolis Sentinel . ... . . . . . 176 

Ignatius 167 

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 170, 171 

Ingersoll, Col. R. G. . 292, 341 

Josephus, Flavius, Antiquities . 50, 152, 178, 222, 224, 299, 304 

Josephus, Against Apion . 63, 75 

Josephus, Wars of the Jews . 58, 74, 75, 77, 79, 82, 84, 262, 300 



INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 347 

PAGE 

Josephus, Auto-biography 75 

Joliffe, Travels 68 

Jewell, Apology and Defence 107 

Justin, Martyr, Apology 166, 169, 170 

Jerome 205 

Julian, Emperor .... 206, 207, 209, 211, 213, 305 

Juvenal, Satire 183 

Jackson, Pres. Andrew 336 

Jefferson, Pres. Thomas 336 

Keith 72 

Kitto, Dr. John 50, 51, 60, 308 

Keppel, Travels 69, 70, 73 

Knox, Thos. W., Life and Adventures in the Orient . 86, 87, 89 
Koran 212 

Liddon 11 

Lindsay, Lord, Letters on Egypt, etc 51, 52 

Lucian . . 46, 152 

Lucian, of Syria, Letters to Cronius . . . . 190, 193 

Lardner, Credibility 167, 193, 300 

Lucian, in Philopatrus 225 

Lucian' s Poetry 275 

Lightfoot, Dr. J. B 192, 270, 308 

Lavoisier 25 

Liebig 25 

Lane's Egyptian Customs ....... 93 

Lateran, Third Council of 113 

Latin Testament , 114 

Light from the Spirit World 136 

Lewis, Mrs 138 

Letters to a Pious Man 150 

Libanius 206 

Liberal League Advocate 315, 316 

Milligan, Pres. R., Reason and Revelation . . . 11, 165, 257 
MacPherson, of Scotland 10 



348 INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 

PAGE 

Messages 140 

Monroe, Editor Seymour Times 148, 150 

Melito . . . 166 

Mishna 192 

Methodius 204 

McGarvey, Prof. J. W 226, 228 

Monser, J. W 220 

Mountford's " Miracles Past and Present n .... 173 

Mignan, Travels . 72 

Milman, H. H 81 

Manners and Customs of Egypt 93, 94 

Milner's Eeligious Denominations 138 

Munnell, Thos., Heathen Testimonies 152 

Muller, Max., Lecture on Missions • . . . . 268, 269 
Max Muller's " Chips Erom a German Workshop " . . 319 

Miller, Hugh 152, 258 

Mill, John Stuart 175 

Mills' Prolegomena to the New Testament . . . . 204 

Martial, Epigrams 182 

Muratori's Canon 219, 220 

Milton, Ode to the Nativity 275 

Molina 105, 106 

Nieuburh 47 

New York World (Number of Jews) 92 

Nichols, Dr. T. L., Magazine 119, 120 

New York Times and other Newspapers .... 122 

Newton, Sir Isaac . . 26, 337 

Newton, Dr. R., Rambles in Bible Lands . . 107, 228, 229 

Newton, Bishop, on the Prophecies 279 

New American Cyclopaedia 282 

Neander, Dr. A., Ch. History 272, 277 

North American Review 263, 330 

Origen, Reply to Celsus 173, 197, 306 

Owen, Prof 256 

Olshausen 24 



INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 349 

PAGE 

Porter, Sir Kobert K., Travels 69, 70, 73 

Parliament of France 113 

Purcell, Archbishop, Campbell and Purcell Debate. 106, 107, 109 

Popes of Rome 108, 109, 114 

Pope, Alexander, Universal Prayer 110 

Potter, Dr. Wm. B., Spiritualism . . . 121, 122, 136, 138 

Peebles, James M 143 

Peterson, Col. R 147 

Polycarp 167, 168 

Papias 167 

Pliny the Younger 186, 188, 189 

Pressense, Dr. De 10 

Priestly, Dr 25, 146 

Playfair, Dr 25 

Picayune (N. O.) 81 

Pall Mall Gazette 81 

Providence Journal 135 

Problem of Human Life 147 

Philo, Jewish Philosopher 152, 181 

Paine's Age of Reason ... ... 175, 176 

Philopatris 225 

Plutarch 280, 281 

Plato 279 

Parker, Theodore 337 

Pausanias 225 

Porphyry, (called Bataneotes,) . . 203, 205, 207, 282, 310 

Phileleutherus Liepsenias 210 

Paley, Evidences 216 

Quadratus, Apology 166 

Queen Victoria 837 

Robinson, Geo., Travels in Palestine 52 

Richardson, Dr. Robert, Travels 57, 58 

Rich, J. C, Journey to the Site of Nineveh . . .48, 69, 72 

Ryal, Travels 69, 70, 71 

Roberts, Oriental Illustrations 83 



350 INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 

PAGE 

Randolph, Dr. P. B 121,123,130 

Religio-Philosophical Journal .... 24, 125, 135 
Kenan, Ernest 168, 169, 180, 182, 192, 214, 237, 239, 260, 263, 308 
Richmond, B. W., Richmond-Brittan Debate, . . 172, 265 
Routh's Reliquiae Sacrse 306 

Scott, Dr. Thomas, Answer to Paine's Age of Reason, . . 176, 
Scott, Sir Walter, Lady of the Lake .... 16, 336 

Scott, Eld. Walter, Messiahship or Great Demonstration, . 16, 266 

Seetzen 55 

Saxe, John G., 131 

Spirit Rapping Unveiled . . . . . 124, 134, 140 

Stine, Dr. I. J 144 

Shuckford's Connections 152 

Suetonius 185, 261, 280 

Socrates . 207 

Schaff, Prof. Philip, Apostolic Church, . . 260, 272, 273, 274, 

278, 280, 306 

Smith's Elements of Divinity 309 

Smith's Bible Dictionary 272 

Seneca . 272 

Starkie, Treatise on Laws of Evidence .... 287 

Sunday School Times 321 

St. Louis Presbyterian ......... 298 

Strabo ........... 67, 84 

Schmucker's Religious Denominations 146 

Smith George (monumental inscriptions) . . . . 152 

Shepherd of Hermas 167 

Sibylline Oracles 280 

Sallust 280 

"Servetus" (?) 316,320 

Tatian, of Syria 170 

Thevenot, and Tavernier 47 

Talmud . 192, 193, 195, 308 

Tacitus, C. C, Roman History . . .84, 183, 184, 261, 303 
Tertullian, The Resurrection 103, 172 



INDEX TO QUOTATIONS. 351 

PAGE 

Tiffany, Joel, 126, 127, 224 

Theophilus Autolycus 170 

Tristram, Canon, 228 

Thales, Philosopher, 23 

Torricello 24 

Titus, Roman Emperor 75 

Theophylact 205 

Tischendorf, Dr. A. F. C 172, 173, 220 

Trajan, Emperor 187 

Taylor, Diegesis 215 

Tyler, Prof. W. S., Theology of the Greek Poets . . 257, 286 

Tribune (N. Y.) 81, 121, 130, 137 

Times (London) 81 

Tiffany and Mahan Debate 126 

Universal History, by Nicolaus 151 

Universal Prayer, by Alexander Pope 110 

Von Guericke, Otto 24 

Virgil, Poet 262 

Volney, M. C. F., Travels Through Syria . . 57, 84, 85, 88 

Volney's Ruins 59, 60, 69, 73, 87, 88, 90, 91 

Voltaire ... 144 

Watts, Dr. Isaac 39 

Wickens, Stephen B 52, 80 

Warner, Charles Dudley 86 

Waddington, History 110, 112 

Wilson, E. V., Spiritualism . . 118, 119, 120, 125, 130, 135, 137 

Wesley, Charles 255 

Walker, James M • 144 

Wise, Dr. Isaac M 180,181,195,197,215,303 

Xenophon 66, 64, 65, 66 

Younger Pliny 186, 188 

Zoroaster, Zend Avesta 278 



READ THE FOLLOWING PRESS NOTICES: 

Sunday- School Times, Philadelphia. — " ' A Hand Book of Chris- 
tian Evidence,' btthe Rev. Laurence W: Scott. — The line of argument 
is more than able ; it is really grand. It is followed up, moreover, with 
lively eloquence, noble bravery, and stout ability, such as are worthy of 
all praise. The whole is the result of a vast deal of reading and splendid 
common sense, coupled with a masculine skill in speaking to men. 
Taken altogether, or even in either one of its two parts, it is unanswer- 
able, or even unassailable, as a vindication of the Christian faith." 

Christian Standard, Cincinnati. — " Bro. Scott has given his time 
and Ins heart to this subject for many years, and has had an opportunity 
to test his positions and arguments in numerous debates with unbe- 
lievers. He has succeeded in presenting the standard evidences of 
Christianity in a condensed form, yet with clearness and freshness; and 
has added to this a good deal that relates to some of the more modern 
phases of Infidelity. Spiritism comes in for a severe handling. It is a 
very readable book, contains much valuable historical matter, and has 
the advantage of presenting all this in small space, so that ordinary 
readers will not be repulsed by the size of the book or tediousness of the 
argument. In these days of doubt, the more people can be persuaded 
to read such books the better. We hope it will have a large sale. The 
publisher deserves honorable mention for the neatness and taste dis- 
played in the arrangement and mechanical execution of the work." 

Republican, St. Louis. — " It is an earnest and conscientious effort, 
and deserves the attention that is due to sincere motives and honest 
belief." 

American Christian Review, Cincinnati.— " It is a compendium 
of irrefutable facts and figures." 

Old Path Guide. — "A vast amount of valuable information on 
the evidences of Christianity has been gathered and concentrated into 
this volume. In this lies its chief value. His chapter on fulfilled 
prophecies is the best we have ever seen on that part of Christian evi- 
dence. Bro. Scott has done the cause of Christ a real service in the 
production of this book. It is adapted to tbe wants of the people on 
the all-absorbing question of tbe foundation of their faith. It deserves 
to be widely circulated without regard to party lines in religion." 

Texas Baptist Herald — "The author has had many a tus- 
sle with modern Infidels, and knows their fallacies and hiding places, 



as well as their points and methods of attack on Christianity. Jt comes 
in as a healthful companion to Christians in the warfare Infidelity is 
now waging against them." 

Texas JBajrtist. — ■" A Hand-Book of Christian Evidence; By Lau- 
rence W. Scott, the man who completely routed the imported champion 
of Infidelity in Paris, Texas, more than four years ago. We have 
not yet read the book, but if he handles his subject as well as he did Dr. 
Stine, of Kansas, the lovers of truth all over the land will purchase the 
book and still owe the author a debt of gratitude, which they will be 
more ready to acknowledge than able fully to pay." 

Central Christian Advocate (Methodist,) St. lA?uis. — "The 
author in the Preface indicates his scheme by asking the honest skeptic 
in regard to the Bible and Christianity : 1. " What evidence would it 
require to convince you ? 2. What evidence has been adduced ? and 3. In 
case the religion of Jesus were true, what evidence could be adduced in 
its favor that has not been adduced ?". With these questions in mind he 
presents first, proof on the divine origin of the Bible, and second, proof 
of the divine origin of the Christian religion. Under the first head he 
presents its analogy to nature and prophesy, taking up the principal 
prophecies separately and making a strong presentation of the argu- 
ment. Under the second head, the credibility of the Gospels and Acts 
of the Apostles is forcibly maintained, the resurrection of Jesus shown 
to be full} r established, and the corroborati ve evidences which strengthen 
the proof are set forth. It is an earnest and intelligent treatment of 
the subject from the point of view taken, and is to be commended as 
such." 

St. Louis Presbyterian.— "This is a bold defense of Christian 
Truth. The author carries himself as one absolutely sure of his posi- 
tion. And why not ? If the Christian citadel is not utterly impregnable, 
if it is so constructed as to warrant the least trepidation on the appear- 
ance of an enemy, it ought to be abandoned. In other words/ our 
necessities, the soul's value and peril justify the demand of reason that 
any religion which invites our confidence shall offer perfect, invincible 
security. And the glory of the Gospel is its absolute certainty. Our 
author fully appreciates this, and he makes a noble contribution to its 
demonstration. The First Part of his able work maintains the Divine 
Origin of the Bible, which is seen in its unity and harmony, its adap- 
tion to man, and in fulfilled prophecies. The Second Part is devoted to 
an irrefutable argument, revolving around Christ Himself, to prove the 
Divine Origin of the Christian religion. This practical work will con- 
found skeptics and confirm believers." 



Terns Christian /'readier.— 4 Valuable Book." 

Christian Messenger, Texas. — "Bro. Laurence W. Scott's new 
book on Christian Evidence is out and the Messenger has received a copy. 
It is a neatly bound volume of over 300 pages, and is quite well written. 
We hesitate not to say that it will be of great benefit to any of our 
preachers, or members to become familiar with the contents of this book. 
Bro. Scott has written in a pleasant style, and it will not w r eary you to 
read what he has said. As a scribe well versed in the law, he brings out 
of the treasure, things new and old, and gives us a taste of both ancient 
and modern Infidelity. Price $1.50." 

Denison Neivs. — " Elder Scott has made a favorable reputation in 
Texas as a religious debater. Two or three years ago he locked horns in 
debate with Mr Peterson, editor of Common Sense, which was without 
doubt one of the most interesting and closely contested controversies of 
the kind ever held in the State." 

Common Sense.—" We had a tussle with Mr. Scott, and we know 
him to be a perfect gentleman in debate, and a far better logician and 
advocate of the general doctrines and evidences of Christianity than 
parson Bitzler is or ever w\as— even in his palmiest days." 

Sulphur Springs Gazette.— u Elder Scott is an able debater, and 
ia doing much good for the cause of Christianity. He wars against In- 
fidelity, and draws crowded houses wherever he goes ." 

Denir.on Herald, — ** As a debater Elder Scott has but few equals." 

Round Rock Headlight, — " Dr: Scott has great reputation as a 
dialectician." 

IToneij Grove Independent.— 1 ' Elder Scott is one of the ablest 
ministers of his denomination." 

Fort Smith Daily Herald. — " Elder Scott is a famous theolo- 
gian and lecturer, and has received many flattering testimonials from 
the press of the United States." 

Apostolic Times.— "Bro. Laurence W. Scott, lectured last week 
to a good audience at Broadway church this city. He makes a highly 
entertaining and instructive lecture. We commend him to the brother- 
hood elsewhere, and ask for him a good hearing wherever he goes. Bro. 
Scott is the author of a book on Christian Evidences, and is a man of 
parts." " This is a book for the million." 

Chicago Evangelist.— ■" The author has diligently collated the 
standard arguments on the questions at issue, and presents them in a 
convincing manner." 



Liberal League Advocate.—" The folio wing is from the Liberal 
League Advocate, (now called the Agnostic,) an lnlidel paper, published at 
Dallas, Texas. We insert it to show what Infidels have to say of this 
work: "Mr. L. W. Seott, has written and published a Hand-book of 
Christian Evidences. It consists of about three hundred pages, and is 
a model of typography in paper, print and binding. I am free to con- 
fess that it is the best effort, for the space occupied, of any work I have 
examined upon this subject. I would advise all Christians, who want to 
be able to give a reason for their faith (as good a one as the subject will 
admit of), to peruse this book. A great many pious people arc totally 
unprovided with facts or theories concerning the history of their religion, 
and hence when they come in contact with unbelievers they are perfectly 
amazed and horrified, and as a natural consequence of this mental con- 
dition, they have no defense to make but to denounce and call hard 
names, and wind up with death-beds and hell-fire. Mr. Scott, it is true, 
has merely presented his side of the question, but he has done it in a 
gentlemanly, and not in a Christian manner. He has not, like David, 
called people " fools " who entertained adverse opinions. As a general 
thing, piety does not improve the manners nor enhance the understand- 
ing : but, happily, Mr. Scott presents " evidence" here not only of great 
ability but of good breeding." 

TESTIMONIALS. 

In addition to the many complimentary pressnotices, which this book 
has received, some of the distinguished men of the country have eulo- 
gized it in letters to the author and otherwise. We have selected a few 
samples. 

Professor J. W. McGarvey writes : " It deserves, and will receive a 
large sale." 

Professor O. S. Fowler, Phrenologist, writes: "It puts these proofs m 
a clearer, strongei light." 

Elder J. A. Brooks writes : " It ought to be in every Christian family." 

President K. Graham writes : "It ought to reach the million." 



bound in cloth. - - $1.50 

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